


The Heart of Nobles

by KamisamaButler



Category: Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Eventual Romance, M/M, Morgana is human, No Metaverse, Physical Abuse, Rating May Change, Slow Burn, unbetad
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-03
Updated: 2018-03-23
Packaged: 2018-11-22 18:24:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 18
Words: 34,840
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11385831
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KamisamaButler/pseuds/KamisamaButler
Summary: Akira Kurusu is a noble fallen from grace after being falsely accused of a crime he did not commit. He then takes on the alter ego of Joker Arsene and begins to help others who have been wronged by the unjust system set up by other nobles.





	1. The Gentleman Theif

**Author's Note:**

> So...this was originally just going to be a one shot about Akira taking on the ultimate heist to steal Yusuke's heart in a romance kind of way, and be set during the late 1800s early 1900s to follow the time period of Arsene Lupin...it ended up becoming something else..Still follows the origional concept though... ^^;  
> Also, I know that Arsene the literary character is French, but I only know English and Japanese ^^; So, I am going to stick with the English terms for nobles and whatnot. I hope you do not mind. On the otherhand, Lupin does visit England in some of the books, and runs into the ever famous Herlock Sholmes (Gotta love copyrights haha), so maybe I can be forgiven some? haha ^^;   
> I hope some people are able to like it whatever this original idea has become ~

_Sir Suguru Kamoshida, the utter bastard of lust. I know how truly detestable you truly are, and that you put your twisted desires upon those within your duchy that cannot fight back. That is why I have decided to steal away your most desired treasure, and lay your sins bare. This will be done tomorrow night, so I hope you will be ready. From, Joker Arsene._

Kamoshida twirled the calling card in his hand as he watched the sun begin to set. “Has the king sent more men yet?”.

“Yes, Milord. They have been stationed all around your palace walls. I don't think even a mouse could sneak by them when combined with your own men, Sire”, a servant with short dark blue hair bowed in response. It would take no genius to realize that the bruises he adorned on his face and the rest of his body did not come from his family, as all of the other staff sported similar marks.

“Good. Bring him to me once he has been captured. The king's reward for him is good with him being dead or alive, and I want to make him suffer for all of the trouble he has caused me”.

“Yes, Milord”.

“You're dismissed”. Kamoshida began to pace his room again, as the sun finally dipped down below the horizon. Soon he will not only have the bastard within his grasp, but he will also receive a hefty reward from King Shido, as well as prove his worth.

“He's over there! Up there on the roof”, a guard shouts. “Hurry and catch him!”.

Kamoshida jumps with a start. _He is here already? How long has he been here? He could not have...no..._ Kamoshida runs to his balcony just in time to see some guards run towards the barracks.

“We've got him cornered!”, another guard shouts.

Kamoshida begins to celebrate, but that is short lived as his servant returns.

“Milord, your medals...are...gone”, he stumbles in fear of his lord’s response.

“They’re what!?”, Kamoshida storms towards his servant.

“Sire, I am sorry, we don't know how, but the guards noticed them missing right before he was spotted”, the servant begins to rush his speech much more hurriedly. In his fury Kamoshida walked up to the servant and began to beat him.

“I would not do that if I were you, Sir Kamoshida”. Kamoshida stops his assault and turns his fury to whoever dare speak against him. He is met with none other than Joker Arsene face to face when he turns around.

Completely left in shock Kamoshida is left with very few words, “You!”.

“Who, me? Last time I checked my name was not you, but obviously you have never been one for simple pleasantries”, Joker shrugs.

“Guards!”, Kamoshida shouts, but there is no response.

“Ah, I believe your guards will be having some pleasant dreams for the remainder of the night. Courtesy of my fine companion, Mona's, contraptions. I need to remember to tell him that his newest invention went swimmingly”, Joker seems quite smug about this. “Oh, but I guess I do have the guards outside to worry, so I shall make this quick”.

Before anyone could really comprehend what happened, Joker had Kamoshida stripped down to nothing but his underwear, and tied up with rope outside his balcony. He quickly rummaged through Kamoshida's documents and grinned when he found his personal journal and ledger.

“I will be taking these along with your treasure. Can't have you playing the victim now can we”. Joker begins to chuckle. Kamoshida would probably have had some choice words, but Joker had made sure to cover his mouth, lest he call for the pesky guards again.

Just as he was about to jump out the window, he turns to the young servant who was still in the room. “A shame that a flower such as you must go through so much trouble. I guarantee that life should get better from here on out”, he kneels as he kisses the servant's hand.

“We don't have time for your antics right now, Joker. Come on, we gotta get out of here already!”, a smallish looking with black hair with highlights walks in.

The young servant’s face begins to turn crimson red, as joker makes for the balcony.

Joker turns his attention back to Kamoshida one last time.

“Well, see ya.”, he waves as he jumps from the balcony.

 

 

 

“You made it back!”, Ann shouts as she sees Akira approach the outskirts of her duchy. “How did it go? It was a success, right? Did you see Shiho?”.

“Good to see you too, Ann”, Akira chuckles.

“Of course it went well. Lady Ann, you are talking to MY protege after all! And, I will have you know that he was well equipped with my finest gear”, a smallish looking boy with black hair and white highlights says behind her back.

Completely ignoring Morgana’s comment, Ann repeats her last question, “Did you see Shiho?”.

“Yes, I made sure to check in on her”, Akira looks rather reserved, as if he did not want to continue his report anymore. But, Ann was not going to let that slide. “It was as you have heard. She tried to kill herself, but she is alive, and should be okay as well as she gets some proper rest”.

“That bastard! Where is he!? I am going to kill him with my own two hands”, Ann starts to pull out some hidden daggers from underneath her dress.

“Calm down, Ann. We all agreed that we would never bloody our hands when on missions. I understand that she is your dear childhood friend, but there are other ways we can deal with him. Besides, death is a short and sweet solution for how much misery he has caused, no? I feel having him live in prison for life is a far worse punishment”, Akira says as he tries to calm Ann down.

“But, Shiho...”

“Will be okay, and have justice” Akira interrupts. “It was just as we planned. Kamoshida put the bulk of his guards around the treasure, so I was able to sneak into his private quarters with almost no problem, and retrieve his private documents”, he holds out the journal and ledger.

“Of course he got the treasure still. No protege of mine would be caught without getting the treasure first”, Morgana chimes in. Akira nods with a proud smile, and pulls out the box of Kamoshida’s medals.

“Then what was the point of moving his guards towards his treasure if you would still have to deal with them to get the treasure?”, Ann muses.

“How can you call yourself a gentleman thief if you don't follow the basic pleasantries of announcing your visit”, Morgana sounds aghast.

“Right, forget I asked”

“Lady Ann! You wound me my cruel lady”.

Completely ignoring Morgana again, Akira and Ann begin to discuss the current issue at hand.

“So, how are we going to get the documents in the right hands to make sure this is heard?”

“Do you remember my friend Ryuji?” Akira asks.

“The really loud one? Yes, it is how I even found out you were Joker Arsene”.

“Ah, right”. Well, his coarse mannerisms has helped him fit in well with the local police, and through his contacts there he found an official who is higher up in status who is willing to help us in arresting Kamoshida. However, even she cannot do so without some public outcry. We are dealing with a very influential noble after all. So, Ryuji is going to take some copies of Kamoshida's ledger and journal and spread them around town throughout the night. With Kamoshida's sins laid bare, it would be hard for the average person to not voice some outrage. We will use that outrage as a way to convince the court to support his arrest”.

“Do you think it will work?”, Ann asks skeptically.

“While our government is corrupt, there are still decent nobles such as yourself, and Ryuji's connection, who will support Kamoshida's arrest”, Akira responds.

“Will that be enough people though? I hate to ask, but do you think we will have the support of your parents?”, Ann looks still unconvinced of the plan.

“My parents are far more concerned about appearances than they are about what is right and wrong. It is why they completely disowned me after I was falsely accused for the one crime I never did do”, Akira smiles rather sadly. “But, it is not only my parents who will try to save face, all the other nobles who are either neutral or against Kamoshida’s arrest will still have to support his arrest publicly, lest they lose face as well.

“I’m...sorry. I should not have brought up your family issues like that, but..thanks for everything. Regardless of how this all turns out”.

“Don’t be. It is the truth after all”.

“Still...”, Ann still looks rather upset with her bringing up Akira’s parents.

“Well, I should probably head out and give Ryuji these”, Akira changes the topic.

“Right. So, then, now we wait?”

“Now we wait”.

 

 

“Have you two even been listening to me? Don't tell me you forgot I was even here?, Morgana looks hurt, as his voice begins to enter into Akira and Ann’s awareness again.

“Oh...Morgana, right. We were listening”, Ann laughs awkwardly.

“Lady Ann, I will only allow such sweet torture from you. Please remember that”.

Akira quickly grabs Morgana before he can say anything else, and bows to Ann. “Next time we meet it shall be when Kamoshida is found guilty. Until then”, he smirks while dragging Morgana by the collar.


	2. C’est la vie

“Hey! You did not give me the chance to properly say goodbye to Lady Ann! Are you even listening to me?”, Morgana squirms in Akira’s grasp as he continues to lead him out of Ann’s place. 

“Yes, I can hear you loud and clear, but we need to get these documents to Ryuji asap”

“You could of done that by yourself. I mean, someone needs to stay and protect Lady Ann after all”.

“Yes, from you.”

“How could you! I have only the purest of intentions in regards to Lady Ann”

Akira simply sighs, and begins to tone Morgana out again, as he starts to make his way through a dimly lit town. A thick fog had begun to set above the streets, and the lights from people’s homes and shops reflecting off of the fog made it very hard to see. Not many people traveled at this hour, so the streets were left abandoned save for the cats and mice that roamed these streets. Finally, Akira and Morgana stood outside of an inn with a faded street sign that read “Leblanc”. 

“You’re late”, a man grunted as Akira opened the door. 

“Sorry, we got a little lost”.

“That again? You have already been here for over a month, and this town is hardly what I would call big”.

“...in the forest”, Akira added. 

The older man began to grumble to himself about how he took in two boys that were far more trouble than they were worth, but deep down Akira knew that he was not really a bad guy, despite his rough outer appearances. In fact, he was one of the few people who was willing to take him in after his arrest, though, Akira did know that his parents had supplied him with quite a large sum of money to keep the whole thing quiet. Morgana on the other hand showed up at the front door of Leblanc after Akira brought him back soon after his first run in with Kamoshida. The older man took pity on Morgana as he had no memories of his past, nor where he came from, and was rather like a stray cat. So, he offered to take Morgana in under the premise that he would have to work at Leblanc to pay for his lodgings...though, even though Akira’s parents paid for his lodgings, he was still not exempt from avoiding work either.

“Well, hurry and get out of my sight. I’ve got customers to deal with”.

“Actually, we have a friend coming to visit us”, Morgana said rather smugly for some reason.

“You have friends? Please, tell me another one”

“We do actually have someone waiting for us. Have you seen a guy about our age with messy blonde hair?”, Akira asks. 

“Well I’ll be damned”, the older man looked genuinely shocked. “Yeah, he came in about ten minutes ago, but just went straight to the back after ordering a bunch of meat”.

“Thanks”, Akira starts to walk towards the direction that Sojiro was pointing in.

“See ya later, Boss!”, Morgana calls out with a wave.

“That’s Sojiro!”, but the two boys just gave a wave in response as they continued to walk away. Sojiro let out another long sigh.

 

 

Akira had first met Ryuji soon after arriving in town. Akira was exploring the shoreline of the town and saw a rather rough looking sea merchant getting into a fight with a noble.

_ “You better be glad all I did was break apart your band of mercenaries. I could have done far worse to you and your brigand, but what should I expect from the son of a whore”, the noble spat. _

_ “You take that back you bastard!”, the sun bleached blonde yelled back. _

_ “Or what? You know as good as anybody else here that I rule these parts, if you want to continue doing business here you better shut up before I change my mind”. _

_ “Ryuji, please! Don’t push the matter any further”, a young girl came running up to him. _

_ “Stay out of this Shiho!”, Ryuji yelled back in response. _

_ “Sticking up for the lowlife, Shiho”, Kamoshida raises his head in complete utter disgust. _

_ “Forgive me my lord, I was just trying to-”, before the girl could finish her sentence she was smacked across the face letting out a loud cry. _

_ “Will talk about your attitude later”, Kamoshida states bluntly. _

_ “You’ll talk about it now. What right do you have to lay a hand against a female?”, Akira jumps in no longer being able to just watch the events take place. “This is very unbefitting behavior of one who calls himself a noble. You should be ashamed”. _

_ “And who are you to question me!” Kamoshida turns to his new found enemy.  _

_ “Just a passerby who happens to know the difference between what is just and unjust”, Akira calmly states. “And hitting a defenseless woman is definitely not just, nor something a GENTLEman would do”. _

_ “Do I know you from somewhere?”, Kamoshida starts to ponder aloud, as he realizes this new nuisance looks very familiar.  _

_ “Just a passerby, who could not simply be a bystander any longer”, Akira stands tall. _

_ “Whatever, it does not matter who you are. You will regret ever trying to go against me. I will have both you and blondie over there band from the entire region, no entire kingdom come the next Lands Meet. And you, little girl, I have quite the plans for you tonight for your act of betrayal”. _

_ Guards from the palace began to file in onto the shoreline before Akira or Ryuji could do anything more. Soon they were left standing there just the two of them.  _

_ “Dammit! He completely had us! I am so done with all these nobles who think we’re just a bunch of lowlifes for them to play with!”, Ryuji storms. _

_ “Yelling won’t solve our current problem, and I don’t know about you, but being arrested is not something on my agenda”, Akira says in a more calm tone. _

_ “I don’t think gettin’ arrested is on anyone’s agenda, mate. But, what could two thugs like us even do? Ya know? This whole damn system is messed up!” _

_ “Correction, one thug and one passerby. I would not call myself a thug, though I guess you do sort of fit the bill”, Akira chuckles. _

_ “Mate, this is no time t’be laughing, ya know”. _

_ “Excuse me, I could not help but overhear your conversation, but I think I may be of assistance”, Akira and Ryuji looked around to try and find the mysterious voice, but to not much avail, the beach looked empty. “I am over here, you two idiots!”, the voice called again in annoyance. This time Akira spotted a tipped over waggon with a locked cage inside. Within the cage was a petite boy, though not much younger than Akira himself.  _

_ “At least fuzzy hair here has somewhat decent eyes”, the boy proclaims while rolling his eyes. _

_ “S’cuse me, but I can see just fine, dammit! Besides, I don’t see how a little brat locked in a cage will be of much help to us.”, Ryuji retorts. _

_ “I am not a brat!”, the boy remarks. _

_ “Sure look like one to me!” _

_ “Fuzzy hair! I demand you make this idiot stop talking. He is bringing down my intelligence with every word that he speaks!” _

_ “WHY YOU LITTLE!” _

_ “Calm down, you two. Besides, it is not like he can really do much. As you pointed out before, he is in a cage after all”, Akira is laughing at the conversation taking place between Ryuji and this boy locked in a cage. “Might I inquire how a boy locked in a cage would be of assistance?” _

_ “I may not look it, but I am actually a master thief!”, the boy shouts. _

_ “Is that why you’re in a cage? And, more importantly, if you’re a master thief, why haven’t you picked the lock to free yourself already?”, Ryuji can actually be slightly observant at times, Akira makes a mental note to himself. Though, Akira would guess that it would be hard to pick a lock without the proper tools… _

_ “A lot...happened...Anyways, I woke up locked up in this cage with no tools to try and escape”, the boy replied. _

_ “Woke up? What were you doing before you woke up in the cage?”, Akira asked, curious about what took place in the boy’s events prior to meeting them. _

_ “I...I don’t know. Actually, I lost almost all of my memories, aside from my knowledge of being a thief”, the boy says more quietly. “Anyways, are you going to help me or not!?” _

_ “How would savin’ you help us out?”, Ryuji asks.  _

_ “Like I said, I am a master thief, and I can teach you all I know ...well, fuzzy hair over there anyways. Blondie will just be like a sign that is able to flash saying ‘Look at me! I am not robbing you or anything’”. _

_ “I say we beat this guy up and find another way”, Ryuji rages in response. _

_ “I think we should actually listen to him. I don’t think violence is really going to help with a guy like Kamoshida, but I have to ask, how will robbing Kamoshida help us?”, Akira muses aloud. _

_ “Announce that you will take his most desired treasure at a specific time. This will have him send the bulk of his guards towards what he values most, and from what I understand about the guy, it is not his journal or ledgers. This will allow you to easily sneak into his private quarters and retrieve those documents. If Kamoshida is the type of man I think he is, then I am sure he will have some accounts of his misdeeds”, Morgana explains. _

_ “And, if the documents do not have that information, what then?”, Ryuji asks, a little more inclined to listen. _

_ “C’est la vie”, Morgana states plainly. _

_ “WHAT!?”, Ryuji starts to shout loudly again. _

_ “Calm down, Ryuji. I think this may work. I am very familiar with nobles and how many of them work. A man like Kamoshida will surely like to brag about what he has done in some form or manner, but he has to be careful about what he shows, due to his public image. And, what better way to brag than in a journal. People turn those into books in the future later on after all. Even the infamous ones, because they are “historic”. I have had to read quite my share of such accounts already. Anyways, I take it that this means we will also need to find a way to spread whatever information we find to the masses, no? We will probably also need someone of high status in the police force that we can trust to help us with the court side of things”, a spark of interest starts to show in Akira’s eyes. _

_ “I knew I could count on you to be an adept protege”, Morgana nods to himself. _

_ “So…what do I do?”, Ryuji is starting to feel that he is being left out again.  _

_ “You would not happen to have any connections to some of the lower level police, would you?”, Akira asks. “Will need someone to get a good understanding about the higher ups within, and what better place to start than with those who work at the bottom?”. _

_ “Actually, I might. ‘Fore all this shit with Kamoshida took place, I was trainin’ to join the police force with some of my fellow mercenaries. Got tired of staying on sea, ya know. Anyways, Kamoshida made sure that plan never happened, but I was still able t’meet some of the lower level police, and became friends with them. We still talk on occasion”, Ryuji seems rather proud that he has something neither Akira, nor the boy locked in a cage do.  _

_ Akira starts pacing back and forth. He thinks to himself that it may actually work, and could honestly not think of a better way. However, there is one more thing that needed to be accounted for, “I can’t honestly think of a better way to go about all of this...but, will I have time enough to learn how to properly invade an entire palace? Would it not be better to just leave that to you,...what is your name, by the way?” _

_ “Morgana, and I...have my reasons. Just trust me on this one, it would be much better if you went. Besides, with my rigorous training you should be ready two weeks early!” _

_ “So, we are in agreement then? Ryuji will find us a way into the police, Morgana will train me, and I will go about completing the actual robbery?” _

_ “Do ya really think this will work? And, how can we even trust this brat to stay good to his word”, Ryuji sounds less convinced.  _

_ “I trust him, something tells me he is not lying. And, can you think of a better plan?” _

_ “I...fine. But, ya better not be lyin’!” _

_ “Great. Then we are all in agreement!”, Morgana sounds happily, almost as if he was purring. “But, two more things. One you make sure to get the treasure on top of the documents. And, two, get me out of this cage already!”.  _

 

 

It honestly is not really hard to find Ryuji. Either his flashy style or his loud voice will help guide you to him. When Akira finds Ryuji, he is reclining across his seat, leaning against the table with a smug look on his face. He is wearing a loose yellow long sleeve shirt that has a v-neck opening going all the way down to his lower chest. 

“‘Sup”.

“Can we ditch him and pretend we never had anything to do with him?”, Morgana looks annoyed at Ryuji’s behavior.

“Come on now, Morgana. He has really helped us out with all of this. Besides, neither you nor I know who to contact within the police force”.

“See, can’t get rid’a me so easily”, Ryuji looks rather proud with himself.

“Yeah, at least you’re good for something. Getting on my nerves that is”, Morgana rolls his eyes.

“So, how’d it go?”, Ryuji asks Akira. Akira responds simply by holding up the documents in his hands.

“Tsk. Just got the documents, eh? Well, at least it is better than nothing”.

Akira begins to feign a hurt look, “So little trust in me? You wound me”. 

“Hey, now, the cute look so does not work for you. I don’t swing that way...wait...you got it!?”

“Of course he did! He is MY protege! How many times will I have to say this”, Morgana says in annoyance while Akira proudly flashes the medals he had snatched. 

“So, what are we gonna do with it?”, Ryuji muses. “Oh, I know! We could have a major feast of all the finest meats!”

“Fatty tuna for me!”, Morgana chimes in.

“I was thinking we could find someone to fence it to, and use the money to help out the victims. I mean, people would become rather suspicious if any of us suddenly had a lot of money out of nowhere”, Akira responds.

“But...but fatty tuna”, Morgana cries. 

“It was never ours to begin with. We will just keep a small cut to cover our costs for the mission and give the rest back”, Akira says firmly. Neither Ryuji or Morgana thought to try and push it further. 

“Now, we won’t be able to do anything if we don’t get these documents out to the citizens if it is not out by dawn, so Ryuji, it’s your time to shine”, Akira passes the documents to Ryuji.

“Right! Just you watch Morgana, I will soon be called the hero of this town, since I am the one with the actual goods to turn him in!”, Ryuji says laughing as he twirls around the documents.

“Yes, but, do remember that you will be arrested for breaking and entering a duke’s palace in a premeditated robbery”, Akira chuckles.

“Right…”, Ryuji looks rather paranoid by the documents in his hands now. “Well, guess I should still go do my part, huh”.

“Yeah, good luck”.

“He’ll need a lot of it”, Morgana rolls his eyes. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, as there are no actual persona's in this, I wanted elements of each character's persona to end up in the story somehow. Some of the persona's background stories overlap, however, and some of them don't quite work with the story as they involve magic and what not, or they don't fit in the time frame of Arsene Lupin (which has been my main fictional focus). But, I will try my best to implement at least one element from each into the story. 
> 
> Also, finally we are getting close to the fated meeting! The part of the story that was originally going to be a oneshot haha I don't know how frequent I will be able to make updates, however, as I work full time during the summer, and school starts back up next month, but I will try to write at least one chapter a week, if not more. 
> 
> Finally, please excuse any terrible grammar and or spelling during this chapter. I will try to proofread it later when I am better rested, but I had to work most of the 4th, and then go to the last part of a family celebration, so I am super tired ^^; OH! And thank you to everyone who has given me positive feedback already! ^_^


	3. Freedom in the Stars

Things went a lot smoother than either Akira or Ryuji had anticipated, although Morgana did not seem the least bit surprised by the results. There were copies of Kamoshida’s documents spread throughout the entire town by the time morning came. And, an arrest warrant with Kamoshida’s name written on it by midmorning. 

Kamoshida initially resisted his arrest until his ledger was shown to him. Not only had he bragged about all of the people he had wronged in his journal, but his ledger showed all of the funds he had been embezzling. He then changed his tune rather quickly, and confessed to all of his crimes in hopes of trying to lessen the severity of his sentence. Which, much to the dislike of some, it did, but not really by much. Instead of being sentenced to death, he was sentenced to life in prison, and to be stripped of all titles. Akira personally thought the later more fitting, as he knew the pain that came with being stripped of one’s title. After witnessing the public announcement of Kamoshida’s removal, and that they were already working on trying to find his replacement, Akira and his newly founded gang decided to go to Ann’s to celebrate their success. 

 

“Thank you so much for all of your help. I’m sorry I could not have done more to help”, Ann looked rather apologetic.

“Lady Ann! Whatever could you be talking about. If it were not for your kindness and generosity we never would have had enough funds to make all the necessary tools needed”, Morgana tries to cheer Ann up. 

“He is telling the truth. Honestly, Ryuji’s loud mouth was actually rather beneficial in this particular instance”, Akira nods.

“Hey!”, Ryuji tries to interject, but Akira had already continued on the conversation. 

“Furthermore, you were able to supply us with the much needed blueprints of the palace, as well as the guards patrol routines, and positions once the calling card had been announced. I believe none of this would have gone so smoothly without all of that information”.

“Yeah, how’d ya get all of that info anyways?”, Ryuji asks looking rather puzzled. 

“Many people, especially men such as yourself, will open up rather quickly if you say the right words. Flash a little beauty their way, and don’t completely smash their hopes and their lips will start running information faster than you could ever imagine”, Ann says with a little chuckle.

“Forget I asked”, Ryuji interjects looking a little pained. 

“I would not mind Lady Ann using her charm on me. I would do anything for her”, Akira smacks the back of Morgana’s head upon hearing this. 

“That is not how you charm a lady, Morgana”.

“Let me guess, ya think yourself quite the ladykiller, huh, Akira?”, Ryuji joins in.

“I am not sure ladykiller would be the right word to use...maybe more like people killer? Back when he was still a noble, this guy here was notorious for being able to charm just about anybody”, Ann starts laughing again.

“Wait...noble? Mate, ya have never spoke about this before!”, Ryuji starts to get a little too excited.

“ **Ex** -noble. I was stripped of my title and disowned shortly afterwards, for doing basically the same thing we did today”.

“And that was?”, Ryuji probes.

“Helping the little guy. I saw a defenseless female just outside of my estate being attacked by a drunken nobleman late one night. I went to go and try and help her, but the drunken fool swung at me and missed entirely, but still succeeded in hitting his own head into a lamppost. He yelled at me saying that I will regret trying to cross him, and that I would learn what it means to do so. I thought I would be okay, but shortly after the police showed up, and the woman said that I had thrown the man down and hit him. The rest is rather hazy to me, and I did not get a clear look at the attacker’s face... ”, Akira gave a long sigh. 

“What the hell man! That’s messed up!”, Ryuji did not know what else to say, but still felt he should say something.

Akira just shakes his head in slight agreement, “Not a topic that is really fitting during a celebration, however, so let us just leave it at that for today”. No one decided to try and push the subject further, even Ryuji could tell it was time to let it drop. Ann turns her gaze back to Akira and shoots him an apologetic glance before having her few servants that worked on her estate bring out some refreshments.

“All good missions end in a toast, do they not?”, Ann changes the subject.

“How about we toast to my bravery!”, Morgana states smugly.

“Pretty sure ya did least dangerous part of the mission, dumb brat. I say we toast to my finesse”.

“And what finesse are you talking about?”, Ann laughs. “We could always just toast in honor of a completed mission”.

“No, it needs to be something more elaborate than that!”, Morgana is starting to complain. “What do you think, Akira? You were technically the leader in the whole thing I guess”.

“How about a toast to the poor flower I met while I was confronting Kamoshida. May he find happiness now that he no longer serves a terrible tyrant”, Akira chuckles as he gets a mischievous smile on his face.

“Let’s just go with Lady Ann’s idea afterall”, Morgana groans, while Ryuji shakes his head.

“I thought that was a perfectly acceptable toast”, Akira shrugs.

“Mate, ya can be pretty weird, ya know?”

“Thank you”, Akira smiles.

“Are ya sure ya were a noble once? That wasn’t a compliment”, Ryuji sighs.

“Well, to a successful mission then!”, Ann chimes in cheerfully, while everyone else joins in.

“So, what now?”, Ryuji breaks the silence.

“I do not really know. Shiho will be okay after some treatment, and passed that I never gave it much thought”, Ann says quietly. “What about you, Akira?”.

Akira remains silent for a moment, thinking through all of the events that had taken place up until just recently. From how helpless he himself was against the system just recently, to how he had been able to actually help someone from falling prey to the very same system. “I think...I think I want to continue with this gentleman thief facade, if only to be able to help other people from not having to fall the same depths that I found myself in”.

“Damn, Mate. Ya sure about that? I mean, these are nobles we are talkin’ ‘bout here. One mess up and you could find yourself behind bars just like Kamoshida”.

“Which is exactly why I should do this. I _was_ a noble myself once, but turned a blind eye for far too long. I may not be a noble any longer, but I still bought into the system until recently. I think it is about time that I make up for that. Besides, who better to understand what goes through a noble’s mind than an ex-noble”, Akira smirks.

“Yeah, but they are not all bad. Lady Ann is perfect for instance, and you aren’t half bad yourself”, Morgana speaks up after being strangely silent for awhile. 

“Well, I am only a noble in name really, and a rather shunned one at that. My parents spend pretty much all of their time and money traveling the world, leaving me to run the estate. So, I ended up having to join a local theater to try and help raise money to maintain the estate. This of course caused many people to look down on me, and men like Kamoshida think that they can take advantage of me”, Ann admits about her current situation. 

“So, we’re all kinda misfits, huh”, Ryuji muses.

“Guess so”, Akira nods in agreement. 

“Well, as much as I hate to admit it, I don’t think stealth is really my kind of tea, but if you ever need someone with connections to the underworld, or brute strength, I’m your man!”, Ryuji pumps his fist.

“I also don’t think I could help on actual missions, but I definitely will keep training you to be the best thief ever, as well as create more and more master tools!”, Morgana adds in. “That is, if you continue with your side of the deal of helping me with my memories”. 

“Same with me. If you ever need a place to escape, or someone to loosen their lips, I am your gal. This makes us all your confidents I guess”, Ann ends her sentence in a small chuckle.  

“Well, every good thief needs some confidence to rely on, after all”, Akira smiles smugly. 

“Then, today marks the official birth of the phantom thief, Joker Arsene! Protege of the great Mona!”, Morgana proclaims proudly. 

“Mona?”, Ann asks while dipping her head to one side. 

“It er..was my old code name”, Morgana answers with a slight blush. “Anyways, I think this is a good time for another toast!”

“Now we’re talkin’!” Ryuji throws his glass in the air. “To takin’ down those who abuse their power!”

“And, to those who do not have the power to do anything to do about it!”, Ann adds while thinking of her good friend, Shiho.

“And, to the beautiful flowers we will be able to help”, Akira gives a curt nod while chuckling to himself again..

“Mate, no. Only you really care about that”, Ryuji sighs. 

“For once I have to agree with blondie over here, as I already have Lady Ann”, Morgana says with a soft sigh directed to Ann. 

“Cheers!”, Ann shouts wanting to change the topic from herself as quickly as possible. 

 

Later that evening Morgana and Ryuji started to get into a drunken banter, so Akira decided to take a step outside, with Ann following soon after. 

“Thank you again, for everything. I...I don’t know what I would have done if Shiho did not make it”.

“No thanks is needed. I really could not have done it without you”, Akira leans over the balcony while a gentle spring breeze begins to blow through his hair. 

“You don’t give yourself enough credit. Really. What you just did would be impossible for pretty much anyone else. I am just glad to have been able to help in what little way I could”, Ann joins him on the balcony railing. “I...I did not mean to bring up your past like that. It was rude of me. Sorry”. 

“No harm done, really. They were bound to find out sooner or later anyways, and better they find out through me than someone who has false information”, Akira says with a gentle smile.

“You know, if I did not know about your rather flirtatious behavior, I might have fallen for you”, Ann chuckles.

“Are you sure about that? I think you might already be under my spell, my lady”, Akira bows while kissing the back of Ann’s hand, all the while giving off a quiet chuckle. 

“Yes, very sure. Any inkling of doubt has gone straight out the window after that display”, Ann laughs loudly now.

“There it is. That smile is what truly suits you best. Though, the one that comes about when you talk about with Shiho is even brighter, you know”, Akira says smiling as he leans against the balcony again. 

A light blush begins to cover Ann’s face, “I don’t know what you are talking about”. Akira just begins to chuckle again in response, as Ann’s face becomes increasingly red. The breeze continues to blow gently as they begin to gaze up into the night sky. Little did Akira know that somewhere out there, not too far away from where he himself stood, a blue haired beauty was staring up at the same night sky. 

  
  
  
  


“Yusuke! Quit lazing around and bring the canvases in already!”, a well kept older man yelled from inside a run down shack. 

“Yes, Master!”, Yusuke quickly scrambled up to his feet, but not without taking one last look at the night sky. To Yusuke, the sky was a sign of freedom, as the stars were able to shine brightly, even though they were surrounded by such vast darkness. He liked to think to himself that one day he himself may be able to understand what allows the stars to live so freely in order for them to shine. But, he decided that it would be best to ponder that another day, lest he anger his master again, and be left without food again. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I realized my last chapter had 2707 words, and that this chapter has 2,107 words D: That is more words than any of my one shots I have written so far haha I also had not realized that I had written that much for either chapter until just now. But, that also means I should really proofread them both before I continue writing ^^; 
> 
> Annnnnd, a wild Busuke has appeared! \\(^o^)/  
> To be honest though, how I had originally envisioned his interactions with Akira to go do not quite work with how this story is ending up. So, I may write an oneshot omake based off of my original concept once this series is all said and done. We shall see I guess.   
> I am also thinking I will officially add a Ann/Shiho tag, as I realized this last chapter started to have more than a few hints of that happening.


	4. Fateful Meetings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here I thought my last two chapters were long.  
> Slight time hop, but only by a few months. It is like mid-late summer now instead of spring.

It had been three months since Joker Arsene successfully finished his first official heist against Kamoshida. Ever since then, Joker Arsene’s calling card had been found among the belongings of many corrupt individuals around the kingdom, giving himself quite the infamous name to himself. The poor loved him, and saw him as a hero, as he would give most of the money he stole from the corrupt back to the poor. He also would find incriminating evidence of the majority of his larger targets, and releasing it to the general public. Thus, causing his targets  to end up in jail. In smaller cases the people would admit to their wrong doings before ever going too far into their own crime. This however also meant that he was a threat to current hierarchy, so those on top feared him almost as much as they hated him. Much to their dismay, however, they could find no trace of his existence other than his calling card. Once he left the scene he completely vanished with no tracks to follow.

Private detectives had been hired to investigate into the matter, but they found no real pattern to the order in which Arsene staged his heists, and they were not limited to just one region within the entire kingdom. King Shidou himself decided it was a matter that could no longer be overlooked, and unbeknownst to the citizens who cheered for the new vigilante, sent his top detective, Goro Akechi, to try and track down this phantom thief. He too was having little luck at finding him, however. 

Of course, most of this did not have anything to do with Yusuke. The money that Joker Arsene gave out went back to the victims of the corrupt, not the everyday citizen who lacked funds regardless of being wronged or not. No, they had to continue working hard for almost nothing. Especially, in his case. 

Yusuke was the pupil of the famous artist, Madarame. There was not a person within the kingdom who had not heard of his most famous piece, the Sayuri. The Sayuri was famous for the gentle sadness that it evoked through the woman whose object of affection was unknown. It was for this very painting that Yusuke found it hard to completely defy his master, as he had trouble believing that someone with an impure heart could ever paint something this beautiful. However, his growling stomach, and bruises on his body often left him questioning that idea. Especially, today.

“Need I remind you who it was who has kept a roof over your miserable head. Fed and clothed you when no one else would bat an eye in your direction? You are nothing without me, and you are nothing to me if you do not finish a piece worthy of my name within the next week”. 

“But, Master, I truly cannot find the inspiration I need in order to paint. Everything I paint right now lacks any heartfelt emotions. Surely...surely...you must understand, people would comment on how you lost your touch again if you were to try to display my work as it is right now”, the last bit burned Yusuke’s tongue as he uttered it, but he knew it was the truth. Madarame has already been ridiculed once for his lack of originality after he hit an artist's block himself after completing the Sayuri. It was at that point that he started using the work of his pupils, saying it was for the good of them all. He would offer them training, and shelter off of the streets, while he would be able to keep up his fame. Fame made more money he would say when a student would ask to sell a piece under their own name. 

“What have I told you about talking back to me?”, Madarame said with a sneer. 

“I just thought…”

“Your job is not to think. Do I need to remind you what your place is here?”, Madarame drew out a large yard stick from behind a shelf and began to hit Yusuke with it.

“M-master! Please! S-stop!”, Yusuke shouted in pain, as his master continued to beat down on him. This continued on for a few minutes until Yusuke was crippled over heaving breathes in pain. Blood was dripping from his mouth form when he coughed up blood. He definitely was going to have trouble sleeping tonight. Madarame looked at Yusuke one last time with another sneer, “Now, have the painting in my hands by the end of the week, or you will wish that your treatment mirrored that of today’s”.

Yusuke watched his mentor’s back as he walked away and let out a small sigh of relief once he was out of sight. Not wanting to stay in the small shack for any longer, Yusuke clutched his sides, and shouted out something about going out to look for inspiration, and went outside as quickly as his body would let him. To where? He was not actually sure. But, the destination did not really matter to him at the time. He just needed to escape, and fast. 

Yusuke finally found himself walking along the main street of the castle’s city. Even late into the evening it was an extremely lively place, with lots of vendors lining the cobblestone streets, musicians playing at every corner, and mother’s yelling at their children for running too far ahead of them as they headed home for the day. There was a heavy smog that rested above the city’s skyline from the cars that roamed the streets, and the factories that were not too far from where he stood. The streets themselves were far from pleasant from the...gifts left behind by the horse drawn carriages. However, this particular part of town was kept up much more nicely than the rest of the city, due to its closeness to the castle. 

Yusuke’s stomach gave a loud rumble, but he was easily reminded that he did not have a single coin to his name at the moment. So, all he could do was enjoy the smells of the food as he passed the vendors. Eventually this became too much for him though, so he turned the corner onto a side street and slid down the wall to sit next to a bunch of empty crates. He saw an old newspaper blow by with a headline that read, “ _ The phantom thief, Joker Arsene, strikes again!”.  _ With a long sigh Yusuke lowered his head onto his knees, “It is too bad that he can’t steal away my troubles”. Yusuke realized that it would be hard to steal away something intangible, but before he could think farther into it a voice interrupted him with a chuckle.

“I would be careful about what I wish for”. 

Yusuke quickly sat up straight, turning his head to try and locate the voice which had just spoken to him. “ _ Bad idea” _ , he thought, as he felt his body cry in pain at the sudden movement. Even through the pain, his vision finally fell upon a seemingly young man whose face was hidden behind a mask, and shaggy black curly hair. The mask was rather peculiar, as it had a black eyelash looking design around the eyes, but the rest of it looked similar to a white mask you might see at a ball. Yusuke began to survey the rest of the man’s attire and took notice of his black trench coat with a popped collar, a strangely designed fitted grey long sleeved shirt, with black slacks and pointy black shoes. What really stood out Yusuke, however, were the extremely bright red gloves that the young man was sporting, as it popped out from the dark attire. If he was going for a small splash of color, it was working. If he was going for a more stealth look like the rest of his attire made it seem, it was clashing rather poorly. There was much more to the man than just his appearances, however, his whole aura exuded confidence and charm. His smirk was easily enchanting on its own. That smirk quickly turned to a look of concern, however, once he realized the condition that Yusuke was in. 

Yusuke quickly realized he was staring at the man, but continued to find it hard to form any coherent words. The young man still looking concerned and walked closer to Yusuke until he was standing right before him, holding his gloved hand out in a gesture to help Yusuke up from his sitting position. 

“I hear the infamous Joker Arsene is interested in the intangible as much as he is the tangible. Although, I would say that you are needing some tangible items at the moment as well”. 

Finally the gears in Yusuke’s brain started working again, but unfortunately it was at too fast a pace for him to fully comprehend what he was saying, “Y-you...you are the thief everyone has been talking about!?”

“I prefer the term ‘Gentleman Thief’”, Joker began to shake his head with a slight chuckle. “Although, I feel that this is not the proper time, nor place to argue on what term I should be referred to by. Come, we need to treat your wounds quickly. Bruises like that can only mean some heavy internal bleeding...if not broken bones as well. Can you walk?”.

“I-I think so”, Yusuke tries to stand up by taking Joker’s hand, but soon falls back down.

“Hm, I feel walking is out of the picture after all. Well, no matter, please, hold on tightly”.

“T-There is no need! I will simply heal overtime, just like every other time”.

Joker gave another frown upon hearing Yusuke, and shook his head. “Nonsense, it is against my creed to leave a beauty such as yourself abandoned on the streets in such a state”. Within a second after that, Joker had Yusuke in his arms bridal style. Yusuke could not help but squirm a little bit within his arms, as he thought he must be rather heavy being a guy and all, but Joker did not seem phased in the slightest.

“Are you not embarrassed to be carrying another man in such a way?”, Yusuke could not help but ask after he realized he would not be leaving Joker’s arms for the time being.

“How could I ever be embarrassed about carrying such a beauty within my own arms. I only wish it were due to happier conditions on your part. Regardless, the pleasure is truly mine”, Joker smiles down towards Yusuke, which causes the later to blush. 

_ “Maybe he truly is a gentleman thief”,  _ Yusuke quietly thinks to himself, causing another small blush to cover his face. 

Before Yusuke even realized it, they were outside a small beaten down two story building. There is a small sign outside the door that reads, “ _Dr. Takemi_ ”. Joker walks in nonchalantly, not even the slightest bit concerned that he is still donning his thief attire, which strikes Yusuke as slightly odd. But, he then realizes that this is a rather shady looking clinic in the back of a poorly lit alleyway, and then starts to worry slightly about his safety.   
“Don’t worry, she may seem a little rough on the edges, but she is a good person”, Joker informs Yusuke as if sensing his nervousness. “Take this, it should cover the cost of your medical expenses, as well as get you a nice meal or two”, Joker hands Yusuke a small bag filled with coins.

“Will you not be staying with me?”, Yusuke asks with more nerves showing up in his voice.

Joker shakes his head with a sad smile, “Unfortunately, I cannot stay with you any longer for the day, as I have some other things to attend to. But, I assure you, today will not be the last day that we meet”. Before Yusuke could protest anymore, Joker slowly put him down in the corridor of the clinic, stepped outside and rang the doorbell, and disappeared into the streets.  
“...Yes?”, a woman’s voice was coming closer in range of Yusuke. She took one look at Yusuke, and sighed. “Let me guess, _he_ brought you here?”. Yusuke figured she must have been referring to Joker, and simply nodded his head. 

“Well, he does have a thing for bringing me a lot of business against my wishes. It makes it rather hard to experiment”, she sighs again while shaking her head.

_ “Experiments!? Oh god, what have I gotten myself into this time”,  _ Yusuke thinks to himself in a panic.  

“Relax. I only have the need for one guinea pig, and it is not you. No need to worry yourself sick. That would just give me another thing I would have to deal with. Anyways, I am guessing he left you with some kind of pay as well, so let’s get started. Name’s Takemi, by the way”. Takemi’s casual speech threw Yusuke off. He had always thought that doctors were...well, more formal. But, the lack of formality actually helped Yusuke calm down. 

  
  


“Well, that should about do it. I don’t think I even want to know what happened to have you end up in a state such as this, but you should definitely avoid whatever it was, least it happen again”, Takemi leans back into her seat. 

“I..don’t think that is quite possible. However, I think I have the means to avoid it from happening again for the time being”.

“Oh?”, Takemi raises an eyebrow in slight shock to Yusuke’s response. “Well, there is no guarantee that our little phantom thief will find you again. So, please do mind yourself...Though, if you do find yourself in such a state again, please come back here again. You don’t need to worry about the cost”.

Yusuke really could not believe how kind Takemi was to him, and could tell that her kindness was not simply due to her connection with Joker, but rather something much deeper. 

Standing up on his own two feet, Yusuke gives a deep bow, “Thank you for all you have done for me today...and, if you see Joker again, please give him my regards”. 

Takemi began to laugh at this, “You can give them to him yourself, kid. Anyways, take care”. 

Yusuke gave his thanks one last time, and was about to leave the room when he realized one major problem, “Umm, excuse me for having to bother you again, but...which way is it to the castle street?”.

  
  
  


Later that night Yusuke found himself in front of Madarame’s shack again, but this time he walked in with a little more confidence. His inspiration had finally kicked in again, and he knew what he was going to paint. He picked set up his easel as soon as he made it back to his room, and began to paint, not even realizing it when the sun began to rise. With a satisfied nod, he stepped back from his easel and gave it a closer inspection. He knew that he could not paint Joker, as there had been no real clear photo of the phantom thief as of this moment. Furthermore, he knew that Madarame would not want to present a painting that could potentially affect his political standing. No, what he decided to paint was something that captured the emotions he felt during his inner turmoil before meeting the gentleman thief, Joker Arsene.

“Master, I have finished my painting for the next exhibit”, Yusuke walks up to Madarame with the canvas in hand. 

“Hmph, let me see it then”.

Yusuke slowly hands the canvas over to Madarame, who in turn gives a quick nod. “Yes, this should work. Now, make sure to not let this happen again”.

“Yes, Master”, Yusuke says with a small bow. Watching Madarame walk off with his painting left a sharp pain in his heart, but he knew what the consequences would be if he did not let him. So, Yusuke swallowed the bile that began to rise up in his throat, and decided to go outside again. “ _ Maybe if I am lucky I will get to see a certain gentleman thief”,  _ he thought to himself, before blushing and pushing the idea away. “ _ No, I should probably look for inspiration that is easier to capture onto canvas”,  _ he tried to reason with himself with a small sigh. 

 

Yusuke soon found himself walking the castle streets again. The scene was very much the same as it had been his previous visit, with one minor change. Looking at some jewelry at one of the vendors was a young woman with blonde pigtails. Something about her made her stand out from everyone else who surrounded her, and Yusuke instantly thought of Sayuri. “She could be the one!”, Yusuke spoke excitedly to himself, and before he realized he was walking towards her. 

As he drew closer and started to reach out towards the lady to get her attention, a man with slicked back black hair grabbed his arm. 

“It is rude to touch a lady without warning, you know. Some may even call it assault”, the man said, giving Yusuke a warning stare.

“I was just going to ask-”, but Yusuke found himself speechless before he could finish his sentence. His eyes fell in line with a beautiful pair of dark silver eyes that were being slightly hidden by a thin pair of glasses. The young man was charming, anyone would realize that within an instant. He even had a way to make his plain black dress shirt and white vest seem like something fit for a king to wear. Yusuke was instantly captivated, to say the least.

“You were…?”, the man was hoping Yusuke would finish his sentence. 

“ _ This is him! This is it! The perfect inspiration for my next piece! _ ”, Yusuke thought, while trying to push the image of a certain thief from his mind again. He could not be the one who accidently leads to the arrest of his new found savior. So, this man will have to do instead.

“You are exactly what I have been searching for all this time! Please be my model for my next art piece!?”, Yusuke passionately requests the young man standing before him. Completely forgetting the woman beside him who initially captured his attention. The young lady beside him seemed almost shocked by this, realizing that he was initially intending to talk to her, while the man gave a knowing smirk that he quickly hid away.

“Model-!”, the young woman exclaimed in shock.

“All that I’ve drawn till now has been lacking, but I feel a passion from you unlike anyone else”, Yusuke continued in a feverish hope. “ _ Perhaps this time I will also be able to make my own official debut as an artist if I am able to hide the final piece from Madarame”, _ Yusuke silently hoped to himself.

“Akira, this guy seems rather shady”, the young woman begins to comment. Taking another step behind Akira’s back.

“Will you cooperate with me? What do you say?”, Yusuke continues, not hearing the young woman’s complaint at all. Only thinking about the masterpiece he might be able to create if this man were to be his model.

“I am truly sorry, but who might you be?”, Akira asks, while trying to suppress a smile.

“Oh, where are my manners. I am a pupil of Ichiryusai Madarame. My name is Yusuke Kitagawa. I am currently striving to become an artist”, Yusuke says with a low bow. 

“Ah! Madarame! But, that mean’s this young man is-!”, realization starts to dawn on the young lady, while Akira begins to rub the back of his neck nervously. The young woman had clearly been filled in on a certain thief’s run in with the pupil not too long ago.

“Akira, this might be a good opportunity”, the young lady was the first to speak up again.

_ “Akira, so that his name” _ , Yusuke was finally able to catch the young man’s name this time. 

Akira looked on quietly, as if calculating his next response. Finally he gave a small nod, and turned to his companion, “I agree. It seems like a very good opportunity indeed”.   
Yusuke had no idea what either of them were referring to, but from what he had gathered, it sounded like Akira was going to listen to his request. Which, was all that mattered to him at this moment in time.

“I should probably introduce myself as well, if we are to be working together. My name is Akira Kurusu, and my companion here is Lady Ann. You may know her as the new duchess of Aoyama”, Akira gave a small bow.

Duchess? That would explain her aura. But, would that make this man a noble as well?”, Yusuke started to panic thinking that he may have been inexcusably rude to a noble just now, but before his panic could sink too far in the man denied his fears. 

“My friendship with Lady Ann goes back to before the time her duchy expanded to include Aoyama, but I myself am just a simple civilian”, Akira gave a small sad smile.

“Akira…”, Ann said with a hint of sadness that Yusuke would only come to understand later on. For now he just gave a sigh of relief, and asked that Lady Ann would forgive his rudeness to her. 

“So, when shall we meet for your painting?”, Akira quickly changed the subject.

“As soon as possible”, Yusuke replied.

“What about tomorrow then?”, Akira inquired. “We could meet up at the fountain in the middle of the square at say...around 1pm?”.

“That sounds perfect”, Yusuke gave a radiant smile, excited about his recent turn of events. “I shall be counting down the minutes until then”.

Akira began to give a slight blush, while Ann jabbed him in the side with a laugh.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for any misspellings or improper grammar. I wanted to make sure I released a chapter this week, but work has been keeping me super busy.   
> I honestly don't know how I feel about this chapter, as what I originally had planned for their meeting would not quite work with the way the story ended up becoming. So, let me know how the story is going, and I will try to make adjustments to improve it as the story progresses. The actual romance part where they become an item will work with this story outline, however, and I plan to keep that. But, what that is is a secret for now ~   
> Anyways, I hope everyone is still enjoying the story this far. The plot should start to pick up again soon.


	5. The Fool's Love Bird

“ _ This is bad! I think my heart is about to explode!”, _ Akira’s face is completely crimson red, as he clutches at his heart.  _ “Is this...is this what people call love at first sight? I don’t even really know the guy, but my heart...it won’t quit pounding!”,  _ Akira is pacing around the flat that he started renting in the city. While he still lives with Sojiro for the most part, he realized that he needed to have a more central location to run his missions from, so with the help of Ann, he started renting a small flat in some backstreets close to the castle’s street, telling Sojiro that he was there to learn more about cooking from travelers who frequented the city in order to help out more at the inn. Which, for some reason Sojiro never really questioned.

“ _ No, there is no way I could possibly have fallen for someone this hard so quickly. I mean, it is me, Akira Kurusu, the guy who casually flirts with men and women alike”,  _ Akira thinks to himself as if he is trying to convince himself that he could not really have fallen for the blue haired painter in such a short notice. Thinking back on the entire day’s events however, caused his heart to start beating quickly again, and a new coat of crimson to cover his face. Akira could only come to one conclusion in the end. _ “No...these emotions can only mean one thing. I have somehow truly fallen for the apprentice of my next target. It would take a true fool to say otherwise”, _ the realization of Akira’s emotions finally hits him hard, and he is caught at a complete standstill. “ _ But, I cannot afford these feelings, can I? What if they affect the mission in someway. I mean, for all I know Yusuke is completely loyal to Madarame, and what then? We would be enemies? I am truly a fool to have fallen for such a man”,  _ Akira sighs rubbing his temples as he sits, more like flops, down into the chair behind his desk. Before he can dwell on the negative thoughts for much longer, however, he starts thinking about his promise to meet up with Yusuke the following afternoon, and starts to blush again while experience a mad case of the butterflies in his stomach. A knock at his door, however, interrupts his current blushing episode, and he soon finds Ann walking in.

“So, tomorrow is the big day, huh?”, she says with a smile.

“Yeah, I guess so”, Akira begins to play with his hair. 

“I wonder what kind of model he is wanting you to be. Do you think he will ask you to pose nude?”, Ann muses aloud, while Akira begins to blush again.   
“I-I doubt it!”, although Akira could not really deny the possibility. Ann all the while just began to laugh. 

“You know, I never realized how far you would go as the phantom thief, Joker Arsene, when you first announced that you would continue on in this alter ego of yours. But, here you are helping lots of people who would have never received it otherwise”, Ann says as if trying to change the topic slightly. Meanwhile, Akira continues to silently twirl his hair around. “I just wish that you would sometimes take the time to help yourself. You will miss out on a lot of different things if you don’t, besides the fact that you would be rather lonely”, she continues.

“Helping other people is what helps me. If I did not do this, than I would not have any kind of purpose in life. For the first time in my entire life I actually feel like I am doing something worth living for”, Akira sighs, looking up at Ann with a silent desperation to belong in his eyes. 

“You are too good for this world, you know that, Akira? The world may not realize it, but I do”, Ann says with a fond smile of appreciation. “And, I am sure a certain someone has the potential of coming to that realization as well”, she adds with a small laugh. 

“W-who could you possibly be referring to?”, Akira’s face starts to go pink again while he plays with his hair. 

“I think we both know which blue haired beauty I am referring to”, Ann says, laughing more loudly at this point. 

“I..I don’t know who you are talking about”, Akira continues to try and deny as he looks out a window.

“Please, I would like to think I know you pretty well at this point. And, even then it would not take a genius to realize how smitten you were when we met up with Yusuke earlier today. Anyways, I know that tomorrow’s meeting is technically for work, but do try enjoy yourself at the same time. You deserve some happiness as well”.

“But, what if he is the enemy? What if he becomes angry at me for attacking Madarame?”, Akira voices with heavy concern? 

“Even if that is his initial reaction, I am sure he will come to understand one day. Something tells me that Yusuke is not a bad person like his mentor”, Ann adds reassuringly. 

“You think so?”, Akira perks up a little bit.

“Yes, I do. Now, what do you say we go and pick out tomorrow’s outfit? We will need you looking your best if you want to sway your little lovebird after all”, Ann gives Akira a sly smile. 

“M-my what?”, Akira looks a little concerned. 

“Come on! Yusuke may be a skilled painter, but we all know I am the best when it comes to fashion! I will have you be the talk of the town when I am done with you!”, Ann starts pushing Akira towards his wardrobe”  
“I thought the goal was NOT to not draw attention to myself”, Akira sighs.

“It is, but that does not mean I am going to allow you to go on a date with a guy that you CLEARLY like, while looking like a country bumpkin. Now, get in there and try on these outfits!”, Ann gives Akira another shove after having already grabbed some of his clothes out of his wardrobe. 

“Wait!? Date!? When did this become a date!?”, Akira’s looks rather concerned, while sporting a light pink blush at the same time. 

_ “I guess looking a little nice would not hurt too much”, _ Akira sighs, while trying to deny that he truly does want to leave a very  _ good _ impression. 

\--------- 

Akira began pacing around his room as the time on his watch drew closer to 1pm. He and Ann had selected a simple yet elegant white dress shirt with a form fitting black vest and a red handkerchief to accent it. Ann told him that for today his fake glasses would not be necessary, and to let his eyes show who he truly was. Whether or not that was a good idea, Akira did not know, but he decided to let her persuade him, so the glasses were left out of the equation. As it drew closer to noon, Akira decided he would go ahead and head out. He could at least wait at the fountain for Yusuke, rather than pace around his flat for the umpteenth time that day. 

After many excruciating minutes, the destined time came. However, Yusuke never appeared. Akira waited fifteen minutes, then 30 minutes, then an hour, then two, and yet Yusuke never did appear. His heart began to sink. “Of course this would happen”, Akira thought with a depreciating chuckle. “The one thing I truly desire, is the one thing that will never be mine”, he started to walk away from the fountain after giving it one more glance. Suddenly a flashback of the bruised and beaten Yusuke he had first seen as Joker flashed into his mind, causing him to stop dead in his tracks. _“No...this is not about me. Something is not right here. The first time I met Yusuke he was covered in bruises and was having internal bleeding…”_ , a new form of dread started to come over Akira, and he started breaking out in a cold sweat. _“Please don’t let whoever hurt him last time find him again and do something unrepairable!”_ , Akira’s heart cried out. He had to find Yusuke, and he had to find him quickly. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did not think I would actually post a chapter today (well, night time for me), but it is like 80 degrees Fahrenheit (~27c) with ~90% humidity and my AC unit is not working. So, yeah! No sleep for me haha Hopefully you were all able to enjoy my sleep deprived chapter none the less ~ ^_^


	6. The Demon Thief

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before you read this chapter!   
> I added a couple of paragraphs to the previous chapter I posted earlier today that helps lead into this one. The chapters were posted quite a few hours apart, so that also means that if you are just now seeing my updated status, you may want to go back and read the entire previous chapter first. But, hey, if you want to read this one first, or skip the other, that is all cool as well (though maybe a little bit confusing haha)

“Worthless! Completely and utterly worthless! I should have you thrown out on the street for the humility you have caused me!”, Madarame fumes at Yusuke as soon as he returns home from his initial meeting with Akira. He had been in such a complete bliss after finding a suitable model for his next piece that he was not expecting the thrashing that had been awaiting him one he returned home.

“I’m sorry, Master! I do not know what I said or did to upset you, but I promise it was not on purpose! Please forgive me!”, Yusuke cowers into the nook of the front door and the wall. 

“How dare you sully my name and then act as if you did not know your crime. I should have you hanged for the dishonor you have brought upon me!”, Madarame shouts as he begins to beat Yusuke again. 

Tears begin to fall from Yusuke’s eyes, and all the mirth from earlier that day has been all but forgotten. “Master, I really do not know! P-please, stop!”, he cries out in pain. 

“Lying is another form of insults, Yusuke. And it shall not go unpunished as well. You and I both know that you secretly sabotaged the painting you gave me to use the other day, as a way to spite me. How dare you cut corners on a painting that was to be put under my name! Or was it due to your lack of talent? Whatever the reason, my peers mocked me when I unveiled the painting. You are truly nothing but a worthless waste of space!”, Madarame spat at Yusuke.

Tears began to blind Yusuke of the image of his Master’s thrashings, and before long the pain began to numb as his vision all but entirely went out. He was completely lost and confused as to what he had done, but given his master’s current state, he figured he must have deserved whatever it was. Before long, everything faded to black. 

 

“...-ke him with a stick!”, a child’s distant voice could be heard, although not entirely clearly.

“No, better yet, you should throw a rock at him”, another not as distant voice could be heard.

“A really, really big one!”, a third voice filled with sickening mirth joined in. 

Yusuke began to slowly open his eyes, but the sun was causing a blinding light in doing so. Covering his face with his arms he let out a loud anguished groan when he realized that bones within them were probably broken. “ _ I really must have upset Master...He is right, it probably is just because I am useless. How could I ever fool myself into thinking that I could have a chance of creating a true masterpiece of my own” _ , Yusuke thought as fresh dry tears burned at the corner of his eyes. Yusuke slowly tried to open his eyes again after finally adjusting to the harsh rays of the sun. This time he was able to make out four children crowding around him in an alleyway with sticks and rocks. Based off of what he heard before, he could figure out where this was going real quick.  

“Hey, you!”, the largest of the children who looked to be the ringleader shouted. “Give us all your valuables, and we won’t hurt you too much. I promise”, the other children began to snicker at their leader’s threat.

Yusuke wanted to tell the children to leave him alone, that he had nothing of value, but he quickly realized that he no longer had any voice. He must have been screaming even when he went unconscious the other day.  _ “Was it the other day? I cannot even tell what day it is anymore _ ”, Yusuke began to feel dry tears well up again.  

“Look at him! He is acting like a little girly!”, the leader started to laugh obnoxiously loud. “What, gonna go home and cry to your momma!?”, he started egging Yusuke on. The other children began to laugh aloud with their leader, and joining in on his taunts. 

“I bet he does not have anything of worth anyways. Look at his clothes. I have seen street rats with a better life than he has”, the leader continues on. 

“ _ Well, at least I do not have to try and tell these children I have nothing of value”,  _ Yusuke thinks to himself with some relief. However, that relief was rather short lived when they started chucking rocks at him anyways. 

“You know what they say about rats though. They are the lowest of the low, and deserved to be run out of town”, the leader says with a new sadistic grin on his face. 

“Hey! I found a really big rock over here!”, another child perks up. 

“Bring over here!”, the leader shouts. The child brings a rather large sized rock over to their leader, who in turn takes it with a rather sick gleam in his eyes. 

“This will teach you for dirtying up our streets!”, he brings his arm up behind his head ready to throw. Yusuke gives a silent whimper, as he mentally prepares himself for what is to come. However, there is a pause, and nothing happens. Another pause, and he hears an all too familiar voice. 

“I usually avoid picking a fight with children, but since you all are so keen on acting like  _ ‘Adults _ ’, I will make an exception to my policy”, Yusuke quickly opens his eyes to see Joker holding the leader’s arm back with a tight grasp, and a menacing grin on his face. Anyone who had never seen Joker’s more compassionate side, like Yusuke had, would instantly think that Joker was a demon, if not the demon king himself. His whole body was radiating a dark and threatening aura that would leave any child with nightmares for nights to come. The children were all completely frozen in terror, one even relieving themselves a little bit. 

Joker leaned in towards the leader with an unusually menacing grin and whispered something in his ear. Yusuke strained his ear to try and hear what he said, but his effort was to no avail. Instead, he witnessed the leader quickly empty his pockets of all of the valuables within them, and ordered the other children to do the same. He bowed and swore he would never do something like this again, and quickly took off running, the other children following not too far behind after him. 

Yusuke desperately wanted to ask Joker how he had found him, and why he decided to help him again, but all he could see was a pair of gentle eyes laced with concern looking at him through the mask, as his consciousness began to fade again. 

“ _ Why are those eyes so familiar….? _ ”.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am sorry Yusuke! I promise things will start looking up again T_T


	7. Blinded From Justice

“Yusuke!”, Joker shouted as he neared the unconscious Yusuke. “Shit! If only I had realized sooner! I am so sorry, Yusuke”, Joker was close to a complete mental breakdown looking at the fragile young man in his arms. Joker had never seen someone so close to death in his entire career as a phantom thief, and he found himself wishing that, that was still the case. He did a quick assessment of Yusuke’s current condition and found many broken bones, and signs of internal bleeding, as well as some rather large open wounds on his arms and legs. He quickly pulled out the first aid kit he had brought with him to try and stop the external bleeding. 

“Joker!”, a familiar female voice shouted from around the corner. “He’s over here, Skull!”. Ann, Ryuji and Morgana had all decided to take on pseudo names for whenever they helped Joker in order to protect themselves from Joker’s enemies. They also took it upon themselves to wear masks that resembled their code names when doing stealth missions. “My god! What happened!?”, Panther asked in a panic once she came closer to Joker and Yusuke. 

“Shit, Mate, what’re we gonna do?”, Skull asked not really sure what to make of the current scene playing out before him. 

“We need to get him to Takemi, and fast”, Joker turned to his friends with a newly found calm.

“Leave it to me. We all know I’m the fastest runner of us all”, Skull says while pumping his fist. 

As much as Joker hated to admit it, he knew that Skull was right. Even if the undertone of jealousy he was feeling at the moment was trying to say otherwise. “Right. Hurry up then. He won’t have much longer if we just wait around like this”, Akira nods. Skull nodded in return and before long had Yusuke on his back. 

“I’m off”, Skull says as he starts to run towards Takemi’s clinic. 

“Are you not going to follow after them?”, Panther looks to Joker.

“As much as I would like to, there is something I need to confirm first”, Joker says as he starts to walk in the opposite direction. 

“But…”, Panther looks at Joker with concern clear on her face.

“I promise, this will not take long”, Joker says with a wave of his hand, before he starts to run off. 

  
  


Joker quickly finds himself outside of a police station. He sneaks in through an open window and quickly locates the washroom. Checking to make sure that no one is around, he finds someone’s spare uniform lying across a bench. He makes quick work of putting on the uniform, with a promise to return it as soon as he was done with it, and walked back outside using the front door this time.

From there, Joker headed towards Madarme’s place. He had a feeling the answer to the majority of Yusuke’s wounds both this time and the last had something to do with this man. He soon found himself standing outside of a beaten down shack. Even with all of the rough patchwork done to it, the roof had obvious leaks, and Joker would not be surprised if the walls had termites living within them. There was a small wooden door with rusty hinges, and an old deadbolt holding it shut. How anyone could live in circumstances like this, Joker could not know. After straightening his back, and clearing his throat, Joker knocked on the poor excuse of a door. 

“Yusuke? Is that you? I thought I told you to not show your face until you made up for the last disappointment you presented me with”, an old man’s voice could be heard from behind the door. Joker noted that the voice had an odd tone to it. It sounded more like the owner of the voice was impressed by his own cleverness, rather than any real anger or annoyance. Why that was exactly, Joker could not say for sure. 

“This is the police. I was sent out here in regards to a complaint by a passerby the other night. They said it sounded like someone was being, in their words, killed. Now, I doubt you actually killed someone, but it is our duty to make sure things are okay”, Joker said as he posed to be the police. 

“Police?”, Madarame sounded genuinely confused, and annoyed, as he opened the door. “Last time I checked I had made certain...arrangements with your head officer to not be bothered by you lot”. 

Joker raised an eyebrow at this. Something about this whole situation was definitely off. “ _ Why would the police be purposefully ignoring Madarame? What could he possibly be doing that warranted him the need to pad the pockets of the higher ups in the police department? Also, where in the world could someone who lived in such a run down shack find the money to even give the higher ups an adequate bribe? _ ”. Joker quickly realized that now was not the time to ponder this, however, because his whole act would be up if he could not figure out what to say next quickly. 

“Pardon me sir, I do not mean to offend you. I was transferred here just the other day and had not been made aware of this, ‘ _ accommodation _ ’ you have with my higher ups. I will make sure to not cross you again. I ask that you will please excuse my slip up, and I will make sure to get the full details from my higher ups to make sure that this does not happen to you again, sir”, Joker says with fake sincerity. 

“Tch, if it were not for the fact that it would take too much time out of my busy day I would see to it that you are fired. Just make sure you are never in my sight again, or I will make sure that you regret it deeply”, Madarame says as he straightens his shirt. Madarame walks back into the shack with a loud slam of the door which leaves Joker genuinely surprised that the door did not shatter. 

“ _ This is definitely a much larger case than I had ever anticipated”,  _ Joker thinks to himself as he heads back to the police station. “ _ There is also no way I can ever allow Yusuke to return to such a place as this place. His safety is clearly in jeopardy if he were to stay there”,  _ Joker's blood boils just thinking about Madarame, and what he must have done to Yusuke. It took all of his willpower to not just waltz back in and give him a similar experience to Yusuke's. But, he knew that if he did, he would be sacrificing everything he and his friends have worked so hard to do, so he would just have to swallow down that desire for now. Even if it pained him.

  
  


Upon returning to the police station, Joker notices that there are far more of them hanging out around the washroom. Meaning it will be more difficult for him to sneak out, but also easier to get some more dirt on Madarame. Joker makes a quick scan of everyone in the area, and spots three young men close to him in age who might as well be holding a flashing sign that reads, “first week on the job”. He figures they would have at least been given the warning about Madarame, but would also be willing to talk about it with other people in the office without much question, due to not knowing everyone who works there yet.

“Hey!”, Joker shouts in a friendly greeting. “Pretty long day, huh? I never realized just how bad patrolling in this heat was going to be. It makes even Madarame’s shack look appealing as an escape from this god awful sun”, Joker starts to laugh in a friendly manner. 

“You’re tellin’ me!”, one of the new recruits chimes in as he wipes some sweat off of his forehead. “I used to envy his manor, but given this heat, I would definitely be down to take a nap in that dingy looking shack of his”. The other men started to join in laughing.

“Manor?", Akira nods his head to the side slightly. "Oh, sorry, I' m newly transferred to this unit, name's Jiro Hirota. Used to work in the northern part of the city, but boss decided he could use some more man power down here. He told me the basic run down about Madarame, in that he was not to be disturbed, but forgot to leave out the part about the manor”, Joker laughed again. He was desperate for information, and was hoping that he did not say too much at once, but he also realized it was now or never. These guys were not going to be new recruits forever. His fears were quickly diminished when one of the new recruits who seemed like the honest of sorts answered him without any hesitance. 

“That so? Sounds like boss to forget important enough details. We all had to end up hearing about it from the second in command when Boss forgot to give us the information on our swearing in”, the young man laughed. 

“I’m honestly surprised he even remembers how to put on his uniform”, another one joins in. Joker thanks his lucky stars that the boss of this unit seems to be quite the forgetful one, or else his bluff probably would not have worked. 

“Anyways, boss will probably forget to tell ya at this point, but basically we are supposed to just turn a blind eye to anything Madarame does. Kinda goes against what we are supposed to stand for, but honor and justice does not put food on the table”, the first recruit speaks up again. “Madarame also has a manor a little further up north. A pretty big one at that. We are supposed to take turns patrolling that area as well, to make sure that no one else finds it. None of us ever asked why, but we all feel like it is probably better off not knowing the answer to that”, he adds.

“Makes perfect sense. No reason to have more things to try and justify your conscious over”, Joker nods in agreement.  _ “A hidden manor…”,  _ Joker thinks to himself. There was no point in trying to push for more answers from these new recruits. They clearly did not know much more about the situation, and he honestly could not blame them for their purposeful blindness to it. That did mean, however, that every second longer he stayed here, the more dangerous it became.

“Well, guess I should hurry up and finishing getting ready. Ol’ ball 'n chain back home will make me wish I locked myself up here if I don’t”, Joker says jokingly as he snatches the bundle that holds his thief attire. 

“Don’t we all”, the young man from earlier laughs. Joker quickly throws on a basic white blouse he had brought with him just in case, and put on Joker’s black slacks, but kept the rest of his attire hidden within his satchel. He bid all of the guys farewell, and quickly hid in a hallway leading out front. Unfortunately for him, the people up front would be able to recognize him as not belonging there, so he would have to find another window to sneak out of. Luckily for him, however, it did not take too long to find a small duct leading outside. _"Not as nice as a window, but at least it gets the job done_ ", he thinks to himself. Once Joker is successfully outside of the police station, he silently applauds himself for a job well done, and starts hurrying towards to Takemi’s clinic.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am thinking I may need to change the rating from T to M? Honestly I am terrible at gauging what should be rated what though...^^;
> 
> Also, the name Akira gave to the police officers has no important significance. I could not think of a clever name, and everyone has Japanese names for obvious reasons in this story, so I just used a Japanese random name generator haha


	8. How to Breathe

“So...I have’ta ask. What exactly is this guy to ya? I mean, ya seem pretty smitten with him, even though ya have only just met him a few times”, Ryuji asks Akira, as the later is intently staring at an injured Yusuke who is currently fast asleep.

“What do you mean?”, Akira does not break his gaze away from Yusuke.

“Fallin’ in love ain’t that simple, ya know. Ya hav’ta get to know one another first”. 

“Let me ask you this, did anyone ever teach you how to breathe?”, Akira finally breaks his gaze away from Yusuke, only to give Ryuji an inquisitive stare instead.

Ryuji begins to fidget a little now that Akira has given him his full attention, “Well….no. B-But, this is different!”

“And, how can you prove that it is?”

“Look, it just is, Mate? Okay?”

Akira begins to laugh quietly, “Maybe it is, maybe it is not, as I don’t even know if this emotion I am feeling is truly love. What I do know, however, is that from the moment I first met him, something in my heart told me that I needed to protect him no matter what. And, that I would truly regret it if I failed to do so”. 

“Sounds a lot like love to me, Mate”, Ryuji shakes his head in exasperation.

“But, only a moment ago you were telling me love at first sight was not possible”, Akira begins to laugh.

Wanting to change the topic to avoid a having Akira catch him in his own words again, Ryuji switches over to the first thing that came to mind, “So...ya gonna tell him?”.

“About what we do?”, Akira’s laughter dies down immediately and takes on a more serious tone, while Ryuji nods to his reply. “...No. It is better for him to not know. My goal is to protect him, and anyone who knows me as Joker Arsene is at a greater risk than those left in the darkness”.

“He’d be of great help, ya know. I bet ya he has a lot of dirt on Madarame”, Ryuji adds in.

Akira shakes his head, “We will more than likely learn all of the same information from him once he wakes up, regardless of whether or not we tell him...if he will not tell us, I am sure he would tell his savior, Joker Arsene if he were to visit”. 

“So...if you’re gonna be Akira when he wakes up...how are ya gonna explain your connection with Joker? ‘Cause you will obviously have one, seeing as how you’re here, even though it was Joker who save him”. Akira gives Ryuji a look of surprise, which makes Ryuji squirm a little bit, “What’s that look for?”.

“Oh, I was just surprised that you were able to figure that all out without anyone else explaining to you is all”, Akira shakes off some of his bewilderment. “Are pigs flying?”

“Hey, now! That’s not fair!”, Ryuji begins to protest rather loudly, while Akira begins to laugh again.

“Need I remind you that my patient is sleeping right next you? AND, that if you wake him up, he would know who  _ exactly _ is Joker Arsene?”, Takemi walks into the room with a rather annoyed look on her face.

“Sorry, Ma’am!”, Ryuji quickly stutters, but his eyes are following her chest more so than her face. “She is still a total babe as ever, huh, Akira?”, Ryuji whispers to his friend, who in turn smacks him on the back of his head, “Ow! That hurt, Mate!”. 

“I apologize, we will make sure to keep it down”, Akira gives a small bow. “So,...do you think he will wake up soon?...It has already been three days. Things could really take a turn for the worse if he does not properly eat anything soon…”, Akira gives a rather concerned look back towards Yusuke. 

“Honestly, I don’t really know. He was in really rough shape when you brought him in here, and his old wounds had not completely healed either. However, the bleeding has shown signs of stopping, and his heart rate is normal again, so there is the possibility of him waking up even later today”, Takemi begins to look through her notes again. “As for the food, we will just have to keep force feeding him liquids until he wakes up, even if that is not the ideal”. 

“...Right. Do you mind if I stay the night here again? Someone will need to look after him, and you need to be well rested in order to help your other patients”, Akira had been staying at the clinic ever since Yusuke was admitted, and was hoping that his reasoning would allow him another night.

“I can take care of myself just fine, even if I am looking after your friend there, thank you”, Takemi looks slightly offended. “However, I guess it would still help me out a little if you were to do that, and I know it is not like you would properly take care of yourself if you were not here”, she sighs in defeat. 

“So, I can stay”, Akira looks to Takemi with hopeful eyes that are almosts like a puppy’s.

Takemi shakes her head, and gives another sigh, “Knock yourself out, Kid. Just don’t neglect your own health. I don’t need any more patients than I already have”.

Akira begins to smile broadly again, “Thank you. Shall I escort you home when you are ready? It would not do for me to let a lady walk home alone at this time of night...even one whose is completely capable of protecting herself”, Akira quickly added the last bit after Takemi began to glare at him again. 

“Suit yourself. You would probably follow me like the lost puppy you are anyways”, Takemi chuckles, while Akira simply nods.

“So...I’m just gonna head out for the night”, Ryuji interrupts, realizing that the other two conscious people in the room had already forgotten that he was there. 

“You know, you should try the whole being quiet thing more often. It suits you”, Takemi tells Ryuji once she realizes he is still there.

“Ya think so?”

“Yes, very much so. The lack of you presence is rather soothing”, Takemi teases. 

“Gah! Hey now!”

“ _ Patient _ ”, Takemi gives Ryuji a stern reminder.

“....Right. I am headin’ out. Night!”, Ryuji nods his head and quickly tries to exit when Akira pulls him back by the collar. 

“We will need someone to look after Yusuke while I escort Miss Takemi back to her home”, he gives Ryuji a slight smile. “Well, shall we?”, Akira offers his arm to Takemi who grabs her notebook and leaves the clinic with him. Ryuji just stares at the two in disbelief as they walk away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Work is killing me, as they keep adding more and more hours to my schedule T_T So, I am not sure how often I will be able to post chapters at this rate, but I will do my best.
> 
> Also, thank you to everyone who has left me a comment! I am always super excited to read them, even if my socially awkward self is not entirely sure how to always reply. It really does mean a lot to see all of your wonderful comments ~ So, thank you again. Also, I wanted to thank everyone who has left kudos and/or continued to read my story! It really means a lot to me that people are actually enjoying my writing (even if I think it is severely lacking ^^;) I just hope I don't leave anyone feeling disappointed with how the story is turning out/ with my current writing style.


	9. A Faint Light

Everything was black. No matter how he turned his head, Yusuke could not see anything other than darkness. Yusuke tried to open and close his eyes multiple times, but no matter how many times he did, he still could not see. A panic started to well up within him, and he began to break out into a cold sweat. Yusuke tried to call out to see if anyone was there, but his throat was dry, and he could not produce so much as a whimper.  _ “Is this...the afterlife? Or am I currently dying?”,  _ Yusuke thought to himself in a panic. He could feel his heartbeat increasing so quickly that he was sure that if he was not dead yet, he soon would be due to heart failure. Yusuke just wanted everything to stop, the whole world felt like it was spinning, even if he could not see. 

It stayed like this for awhile, or at least it felt like a long time to Yusuke, but he truly had no way of knowing how long he had really been in this state. Out of nowhere Yusuke started to feel a presence. He tried calling out once again, but to no avail. The closer the presence got, the more Yusuke was filled with dread. The aura this presence gave off could be felt miles away, and it was almost right in front of Yusuke now. He tried to move, but his body would not listen. He shouted silent cries for help, and shut his eyes, but nothing changed. The presence was still there.

Yusuke could feel the presence begin to reach out towards him, but right before the unknown being could reach him, a blinding light flashed into the darkness followed by a voice that started off muffled and staticy, “-su….! -suke! Yusuke!”, the voice slowly became more clear, and as it did it became more gentle as well.  “Yusuke, it is okay now. I will make sure he cannot harm you any longer”. The voice spoke. 

Finally, Yusuke could see some color, if but only a little. He could not tell who his rescuer was, but they had a gentle, but protective embrace as they spoke softly to him. Yusuke sunk into the strangely familiar embrace, and closed his eyes. His heart started to slowly decrease back to a more normal pace.

  
  


It was heavy. Something on his chest was extremely heavy, but not completely unwarranted. There was something comforting about the weight, but Yusuke could not quite make out what it was. Regardless of what it was however, it was heavy. After resting for who knows how long, Yusuke finally decided to try and open his eyes again. He slowly cracked open his left eye only to see the dim glow of a bedside lantern. The stars were out, but masked by a thin layer of clouds that moved across the sky slowly, while the crescent moon gave off a gentle glow. Yusuke slowly opened his other eye and began to scan his surroundings. He quickly recognized the patient’s room within Takemi’s clinic, but could not recall how he had gotten there, and anytime he did try, his head began to throb. He decided not to think too much about how he had arrived there, as he knew that the clinic was a safe place due to his prior visit, so he decided to try and find the source of the weight. 

Yusuke tried to pull himself up slightly, but the weight would not budge. He finally looked down to his chest and saw a person with their head laying across Yusuke’s chest. “ _ Well, that explains the weight _ ”, Yusuke thought to himself. Yusuke tried to look more closely at the strange person, man, he realized quickly, that was using him as a makeshift pillow. Even though it was rather dark, the light from the lamp was enough to realize that the man had soft dark curls that had been slicked back originally, but due to the man’s position, the curls started to break free and once again fall loosely across his head. Yusuke could not help but chuckle at the strange bedhead the young man seems to have acquired during his sleep. He instantly regretted his chuckle, however, as all of the bones in his body began to ache. He let out a rather loud grunt of pain, which caused the man upon his chest to begin to stir. 

“...W-what time is it?”, the young man asked as he slowly raised his head and began to rub his eyes. He turned to look outside the window and saw the night sky, and then plopped back down on Yusuke’s chest. “It is not even morning, Morgana. Whatever you have to say to me can wait until then”. The young man started to nuzzle his head into Yusuke’s chest, and started to drift off back to sleep. However, the hair of the young man’s hair started to tickle Yusuke, so against his better wishes, he began to laugh, but it turned into a grunt of pain quickly once again. This time the young man’s head shot up, and he looked rather alert. 

“O-Oh, god. I fell asleep!”, he looked rather annoyed with himself. He then looked up at Yusuke and back down to his chest, and made the connection of exactly how he had fallen asleep. His face became so red, that even Yusuke could notice it from within the poorly lit room. “I am so sorry”, the man quickly uttered in embarrassment”.

Now that the man was up and looking at him, Yusuke quickly realized why he felt a sense of familiarity from him. “A-Akira? I-Is that y-you?”, Yusuke was finally able to find his voice, albeit, it was rather hoarse sounding, making Yusuke grimace. 

“H-Hey, Yusuke….”, Akira started to play with one of his loose curls. 

“It really is you…! But, how? Why?”, Yusuke was in such shock to find Akira sitting in front of him, that he was unsure of what he should even say. Thankfully Akira rescued the poor boy, and spoke up.

“I....My acquaintance...”, Akira took a slight pause, gathering his words, “...found you while he was out on a mission. He said that you were passed out in an alleyway, so he quickly took you to Takemi’s clinic. He knew that we were supposed to meet up today, because I had told him as much during a brief meeting we had, had the previous day, so he called me over to the clinic”. Akira took another brief pause, “I have...been waiting at your bedside for the last four..now five days, hoping you would wake up”. Akira started to play with his hair again, while Yusuke looked on in shock.

“I have been asleep for five days!?”

“Yes, and you had m-..us, rather worried you know”

A slight pink dusting began to spread across Yusuke’s cheeks, “S-Sorry about that”. 

“Don’t be. None of this is your fault. I am just glad my acquaintance was able to find you before it was too late”, Akira looked down at his lap. 

“...About this acquaintance of yours...Might I inquire as to who it is?”, Yusuke looked to Akira with a hopeful stare. 

Akira looked up to Yusuke and started to rub behind his neck, “...Arsene… Joker Arsene. You may know him as the phantom thief? He has helped me previously during one of his heists, and ever since then I have shared some information as I have found it as a way to repay my debt to him”. 

“You know Joker!?”, Yusuke seemed rather shocked that someone actually knew Joker outside of his actual heists.

“Well, it is not like he tells people his actual identity or anything…”, Akira gives a slightly nervous chuckle, but Yusuke does not notice it due to the slight haze he is still in. 

“...I would like to meet him again. In order to give him my proper thanks for saving me yet again”, Yusuke began to blush, to which Akira felt a slight pain in his chest for having just lied to Yusuke. 

“...I am sure you will get to see him sometime soon”

“I hope so”, Yusuke gives a soft smile. 

There is a brief pause before Akira begins to talk again, “Right, you must be starving. I will go and prepare some food for you’. Akira quickly stood up and started heading towards the door. “Just wait here and get some more rest. I will wake you up again to eat if you fall asleep again”, Akira gives Yusuke a gentle smile as he walks through the door.

Yusuke stares at the door in utter shock at the events that had just taken place. First he finds out that the muse he could actually talk to has been taking care of him the entire time he was asleep. Secondly, the muse he could not actually have saved him from an alleyway. He could not believe that any of it was real, so he pinched himself real quickly, but realized he was very much awake. He felt like he must have used up all of his luck just now to have something like this happen to him.

Before long Yusuke heard a knock at the door while the still disheveled looking Akira walked into the room with a tray of food. 

“Sorry, I mainly only know how to cook beef bowls and curry, and how to make coffee, so I cannot guarantee the taste of my porridge”, Akira says with a slight blush. 

“I am sure it will be marvelous”, Yusuke says with a smile. Akira smiles in return as he sets the tray down in front of Yusuke. The porridge had a pleasing smell of spices and fruit, apples and cinnamon were among the ingredients from the smell of it. Next to the bowl of porridge was a large glass of water, Yusuke figured that he would not be allowed to have much more than this until he could prove that he could hold his food down, but he found himself hoping that would be sooner than later. He wanted to try some of Akira’s curry and coffee, but for now, this would suffice. 

Yusuke picked up the spoon and began to eat. The flavors began to melt into his mouth. None of the flavors were too strong, nor too weak. The balance was perfect. It was like art in the form of food”, Yusuke thought to himself with a smile. He quickly realized just how hungry he was, however, so he began to eat the food more quickly.

“Slow down, you do not want to get sick. And, I can always make you more if you are still hungry”, Akira chuckled, causing a light blush to form on Yusuke’s face.

“S-Sorry. I just did not realize how hungry I truly was”. 

“There is no need to apologize. I am just glad that the porridge came out okay”, Akira gave a gentle smile.

“There is no need to worry. You’re cooking is truly an art”, Yusuke said with a smile, while Akira blushed at the sudden praise.

“You are a little strange, you know that?”, Akira chuckles.

“Yes...I get that a lot. I apologize”.

Akira quickly realized that Yusuke had thought he was making fun of him, so he quickly tried to remedy that, “I do not mean it is a bad thing. You are just not like many people I have met, but I think I actually like it”, he smiles towards Yusuke who looks at Akira in shock.

“You...do not find it annoying?”

“Of course not. In fact, I find it rather endearing”, Akira says with another gentle smile. 

“T-Thank you”, Yusuke quickly looks down to his bowl, and begins to eat again, but he was unable to hide the heavy blush that was now covering his face. 

“...You should probably go back to sleep once you finished your porridge. You are going to need quite a bit of rest if you are to heal quickly”, Akira changes the topic.

“R-Right. I do not want to be a burden on you, so I will leave as soon as I can”, Yusuke quickly replies.

“About that...if you think I am going to let you go back to wherever you call home, you are sorely mistaken. There is no way I could ever send you back there in good conscious”, Akira takes on a more serious tone. 

“But, where would I stay if not my home? I have no where else to go”, Yusuke looks to Akira with worry on his face. 

“I am not going to deny you access to your ‘home’, just to throw you out onto the streets, Yusuke...I was thinking you could...move in with me. Until you were able to find somewhere safe to stay that is. I do not mean to impose on you or anything”

“Of course you would not be imposing! If anybody were to be, it would be me!”, Yusuke quickly wanted Akira to know that he had not been offended by what he had said. 

“So...you will stay with me then?”, Akira inquires.

“...Yes, I would like to. But, I would have no way to pay for my keep…”, Yusuke begins to wonder how he could possibly pay Akira for his support.

“I am not expecting anything from you. Just think of it as a man who would be unable to sleep at night if he knew that he had returned you to your home simply because he did not want to spend a little bit more money on food”. 

“But...Madarame. He will be furious with me if I do not return to him with a painting soon! He will-!”

“He will do nothing to you ever again!”, Akira firmly interrupts Yusuke’s sudden panic attack. “If I have my way, Madarame will never be able to see you again, unless it is in a courthouse with him being sentenced behind bars”, Akira adds.

“But, he will find out. Besides, it is all my fault for what happened anyways. I...I brought shame upon the man who raised me”, Yusuke’s head begins to spin as he questions Akira’s offer. 

“Nonsense! You have done nothing of the sort! That man is a liar, and a crook!”, Akira began to grow frustrated just thinking about how much Madarame has twisted and distorted Yusuke’s self image. Yusuke, however, was shocked, and appalled by Akira’s sudden acquisitions of his master. 

“How dare you speak so poorly of the man who raised me purely out of kindness!”

“Yusuke, that man has only been using you! There is not an ounce of kindness in him!”

“I shall not have you speaking so poorly about Master this way!”

“Please, Yusuke. You have to believe me. You have done  **nothing** wrong. Madarame has just been using you for your own personal gain”, Akira tried to plead with Yusuke, Yusuke however remained unconvinced. 

Akira let out a long sigh as he rubbed the back of his neck, “There is no point in arguing about this right now. You still need rest....if not permanently, you are still welcome to stay at my place until you feel that Madarame is ready to welcome you back into his home. 

“Akira…”, Yusuke’s heart clenched when he saw the hurt expression on Akira’s face. He could not understand why it was there, as he should be the one upset at the conversation they had just had...or..at least..he was supposed to be, right? 

Akira shook his head slowly and walked towards the door, “I...I will be in the lobby. If you need anything, just call for me”.

Yusuke watched Akira’s back as he left. His heart was aching as he saw him go, and he wanted to call out to Akira to have him stay in the room with him. But, he knew that he did not have the right to do so. Not after what had just happened. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like I should mention that people do not magically heal after experiencing abuse of any kind. In fact, it takes many years to heal, and even then a lot of people never fully heal, as it can leave some rather ugly scars. As someone who had been bullied physically and emotionally for a large majority of their life, I could not just have Yusuke magically get over the abuse he faced from Madarame. It just felt way too unrealistic, and wrong to me. So, I apologize to people who feel like I may be having Yusuke go through too much ;-; I promise he will have a happy ending though!  
> I have also gone back into the tags to add some warnings to the references to abuse in this story, just in case.


	10. A Different Reality

Seeing Akira passed out behind her front office desk was not the first thing Takemi expected to see when she returned to her clinic the following morning. But, sure enough, there he was, back slouched over with his head lying atop some documents she had previously organized. Takemi let out a loud sigh, and grabbed a clipboard to swat at Akira’s sleeping head.

“Hey, guinea pig! Last time I checked a good guinea pig did not ruin the research of the data they themselves have painstakingly helped gather!”.

Akira let out a loud mumbling moan, “-ust a few more minutes…”

“This is not a hotel, nor am I your mother. Now get up!”, Takemi says while hitting him in the back of his head with a little more force. 

“Okay, okay. I am up, no need to add another patient to your clinic”, Akira says more awake while clutching the back of his head. “You know, you could have just caused some major brain damage to the one and only charming phantom thief”. 

Takemi begins to laugh, “Charming, eh? You put yourself on far to high of a pedestal for being a simple guinea pig”. 

“Hey!”, Akira begins to protest. 

Takemi begins to try and calm her laughter and shakes her head, “So, what is this  **charming** phantom thief doing out here then? I thought you would be trying to be that pretty boy’s prince charming at the moment”. 

Akira lets out a long sigh, “I think I am beginning to understand why princes and thieves have different stories in fairy tales. I tried to act like the prince charming, and offered Yusuke a place to stay with me, but he became extremely upset when I told him that he needed to get away from his abusive master...We ended up in a fight over this, and I thought it best to just leave the room”.

“Some charmer you are”, Takemi is not quite sure if she wants to laugh or sigh, so instead she does an odd combination of the two. 

Akira looked rather shocked by her response, “What do you mean? Last I checked helping people out of abusive situations was a good thing”. 

“It is a good thing, when it is done right. Look, I am no counselor, as I studied medicine, not therapy. But, you need to remember that the only reality that boy knows is the one he grew up in within that shack. Seeing as how sheltered he seems, he probably truly believes that the abuse he receives is deserved, and that everyone receives similar treatment from their guardians. And, he is not the abnormality in how he reacts to this situation. In fact, most people react similarly due to a defense coping mechanism that they have created. It takes a truly rare, and strong willed person to see the abuse for what it is, and to stand up against it. Because, for all the victim truly knows is that they could end up dead for standing up for themselves, seeing how extreme a minor confrontation already is. I guess what I am trying to say is that you have a very fragile case on your hands, and you need to take a step back and try to understand the way he sees the world”.

Akira looks at Takemi in contemplative silence for a few minutes while she begins to tidy up her desk again. Akira started to think about all the different times people’s pity fell short for him when they found out about his situation with his own family, and loss of title. Sure, they showed genuine concern for him, but they never really understand the pain he actually feels from it. Upon understanding that, he realizes that he never once thought about Yusuke’s perspective on the matter. That he had been projecting his own beliefs and reality onto Yusuke. That thought alone started to bring a sickening feeling to his stomach that he really did not care for. 

“I...thank you Takemi. I would have made far more damage to our relationship had I not been able to speak with you this morning...Can you make sure to take care of him for me for awhile. I need some time to myself to rethink how I approach the situation, as the last thing I would want to happen is for me to become another person who hurts him”, Akira looks down to the floor as he begins to play with his hair. 

“I would not be much of a doctor if I just threw him out onto the street, now would I?”, Takemi begins to laugh, “I am just glad that you’re a smart kid, and that it did not take long to get you to understand the problem. I feel this might have been a much larger issue if I had to try and explain it to that blonde haired friend of yours”. 

“You are right about that”, Akira cannot help but chuckle at this. “Realy, thank you for everything. I will make sure that Joker leaves a nice sized token of gratitude for your clinic after his next heist”.

“People will really start to question the credibility of this back alley clinic if they find out where the donations are coming from”, Takemi begins to shake her head. 

“I could always tell him to not to. You know, to protect your credibility and what not”, Akira teases. 

“I never said I did not want it. Now head on out before I think of new things to test out on

my perfect little guinea pig”, Takemi teases back. 

Akira gives a slight wave of his hand while he walks out the door, still chuckling to himself as he does.  

  
  


“Soooo, how’s it goin’ with your little prince?”, Ryuji questions as soon as he, Ann, Morgana and Akira had all sat down at their booth inside a small cafe.

“He must be so happy to know that his savior was none other than his very own muse!”, Ann chimes in. 

“Yes, well, about that…”, Akira starts to play with his hair. 

“Wait! Hold on now! Ya tellin’ me that he’s not happy?”, Ryuji raises his voice in disbelief. 

Akira gives a slight nod, “Yes. Well, I think he was happy at first, but I accidently upset him when I so openly accused his master of abuse…”

“Pretty sure that what his master is doin’ ta him is abuse”, Ryuji shakes his head.

“As much as it pains me to agree with Ryuji, he is right”, Morgana shakes his head in agreement.

“Shut it you!”, Akira turns his focus onto Morgana. 

“Calm down you two! I am sure there must be a reason for this”, Ann asks with hope that there really is a valid reason for it all. 

“There is. And, I hate to admit it, but it is something I had overlooked until after Takemi pointed it out to me”, Akira begins to go over his entire conversation he had, had with Takemi earlier that morning, and by the time he finishes the recap, everyone at the table looks on with understanding. With the exception of Ryuji that is.

“I still don’t get it, Mate”

“No, surprise there”, Morgana rolls his eyes. 

“So, basically the only way to help him is to change the way he sees reality?”, Ann inquires as she is still trying to piece together the new information. 

“Yes, but… I am afraid that is far easier said than done. We would literally be changing his entire life as he has known it, and if we are not careful, it could be for the worse”, Akira responds.

“Mate, I’m pretty sure we’re the last people that would ever hurt him”. 

“On purpose, yes. But, if we are not careful, we could completely ruin him by leaving him questioning why he never tried to help himself, and how many people he may have hurt due to Madarame’s influence. And, that is at the best case scenario of how he might react if it goes poorly. I mean, how would you feel if someone came up to you one day and said, ‘Hey, your entire life has been a lie’. You might as well just be telling him that his entire existence is unimportant”, Akira tries to reason with Ryuji.

“I guess I kinda understand where you’re comin’ from”, Ryuji still is struggling to follow the conversation, but is starting to understand that a direct confrontation may not be the best choice of action. 

“So, what do you plan to do?”, Ann inquires. 

“I do not really know. This case is far different from any of the other ones we have dealt with thus far”, Akira shakes his head. 

“Well, I think it is safe to say that we can all agree to be careful with what words we choose to use when interacting with Yusuke”. Morgana pauses for a moment, “You know what, just to be safe, Ryuji you would do best to just not talk at all”. 

“Can I hit him now? Please?”, Ryuji asks in frustration. 

“Ryuji, you are not helping yourself in the least bit”, Morgana says with a smug grin. 

“Geez”, Ann begins to shake her head, while Akira starts to chuckle. 

The four of them continued to talk amongst themselves until a barista started to give them cold stares from the counter due to staying there too long. 

“I guess you have to have a lot of guts to stay in this cafe for too long”, Morgana states in a matter of fact manner. 

The group decided to wrap up their conversation soon after, with the agreement to think about different ways in which to help Yusuke.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really hope I am doing okay with dealing with abuse ;-; It honestly is kind of nerve wracking to write about ^^;
> 
> Also, I wanted to thank everyone for all of the supportive comments from the last chapter! It really means a lot!
> 
> Edit: I just realized this chapter made my story reach 20,000+ words! This is a huge achievement for my ADHD/Dyslexic self!


	11. Small Steps Pave the Way

Akira decided to return to Takemi’s clinic after his meeting with his friends was over. He spent the entire trip back trying to think of different ways to try and patch up his previous altercation with Yusuke, but was never able to come up with anything he perceived as a good idea. In the end, about the only successful thing he did was make himself feel sick with how he had reacted. He did also come to the conclusion that the best thing he could probably do at the moment was apologize, and ask to for a start over, desperately hoping that Yusuke would agree.  _ It is not like I regret what I said about Madarame, because he is in fact scum on this earth...but the way I approached the topic with Yusuke was all wrong. All I did was attack Yusuke, not his mentor _ . 

Upon reaching the clinic, Akira took a deep breath and opened the door. Takemi casually glanced up from her desk, but immediately looked back down to the document she was working on once she realized it was Akira, “Oh, it is just you. For a second I thought an actual patient was here”.

“Hey, now. I am a patient of yours too”, Akira gave a feigned hurt look. 

“No, you are a guinea pig. Guinea pigs and patients are two different things. Now, if you will excuse me, I have patients to see to”.

“What patients?”, Akira gestures towards the empty waiting room.

“Oh, I don’t know. Just a poor boy who was beaten to a pulp by his so called mentor?”. Takemi gave a sly smirk, “The boy whom you upset during your failed attempt to woo him last night”.

“Way to bring up healing wounds”, Akira looks a little downcast as he sighs. “...How is he?”.

Takemi walked up to Akira and popped the back of his head with her clipboard and gave a small laugh, “You need to lighten up. Yes, yesterday could have gone better, but you still have to opportunity to try and fix it”.

Akira perked up just a little, “You really believe so?”.

“If the sad puppy dog eyes he gave me when I went to check in on him this morning were not enough of a clue, I would say his comment of, ‘ _ I do not know if it would be possible anymore...but I would still like to paint his portrait’. _ Why he is so set on you, however, I do not know”, Takemi shakes her head. 

Meanwhile, a spark lights up within Akira’s eyes upon hearing the news, _ I may not have royally screwed this up then! _ , and a small smile begins to breakout across his face. “I...I think I will go talk to him. Is he awake?”.

“Should be. He fell back asleep soon after I gave him something to eat...but I have a feeling he will be hungry again soon”. 

“...but what should I say? I still have not figured it out”, Akira starts to question if he should go ahead with seeing Yusuke or not. 

“Just talk to the boy, as Akira, not Joker, and get to know him as Yusuke, and not the victim of your next target. I have a feeling that if you do that, the rest of the problems you two are facing between each other will fix themselves. What that boy truly needs is something medicine cannot help with. It can help with some of the symptoms, but it cannot help with all of the problems”.

“Right…”, Akira listens into Takemi’s advice, and while it answered some of his own, it brought about a whole bunch of news ones up. He mewls it over for a few seconds, and then decides it is just best to actually channel Ryuji and act, rather than think, or he would be stuck in Takemi’s office for who knows how long. “I guess it would be best to bring him some food, huh.”.

  
  
  


Akira knocked gently on the door as to not wake Yusuke if he were still asleep. His heart was pounding extremely fast, as he nerves began to set in.  _ What if I mess this up again. What if I cannot obtain his forgiveness. What if-. _ Akira’s thought process is interrupted as he hears Yusuke call out to him. 

“...Yes?”.

Taking a deep breath, Akira slowly opens the door while clearing his throat, “I ugh, I brought you something to eat...I um thought you might be um...hungry”.  _ Smooth Akira, real smooth. _

“Thank you”, Yusuke gives Akira a genuine smile of gratitude to Akira’s relief. “I was starting to feel a slight bit peckish”, Yusuke gives a gentle chuckle, which calms down some of Akira’s initial nervousness, only to cause his heart to beat quickly for a rather different reason. 

Akira gives Yusuke a slight smile in return and walks in, placing the tray of food down on Yusuke’s bed. “I...wanted to apologize for last night. What I said was completely uncalled for. I was...I was wondering if you could forgive me for insulting you as I did, and that if maybe we could start over from the beginning?”, Akira looks Yusuke in the eyes as he says this, but cannot help but rub the back of his neck as he does.

Yusuke looks at Akira in shock for a few moments, as he tried to process everything Akira had just said, causing Akira to begin to squirm. Finally the words begin to register, and his heart suddenly feels lightened, as if a chain of some kind had started to loosen, “I...Yes, I would very much like that”. Yusuke gives another small smile as he looks down towards his food, part of the anxiety he had built up the previous night seemed as if it were melting away. 

Akira feels the tightness around his own heart begin to release, as he lets out a sigh of relief, “T-Thank you”. Akira gives Yusuke another small genuine smile, “You will probably want to eat that before it gets cold. I cannot guarantee its flavor once cold”. 

Yusuke gives a soft chuckle, “I am sure it will be fine hot or cold”. 

“I would not be so sure about that…”, Akira laughs. 

Yusuke listens to Akira’s laugh, and realizes that he very much enjoys the sound of it.  _ I wish there were a way to paint a sound. If there were, I would love to paint his laugh. _ Yusuke was unsure of what to say, however, so he begins to eat his food instead, hoping that Akira would think of something to say. 

“...So, I realized we have never actually talked to each other before. About ourselves that is”, Akira who had been playing with his hair looked up to try and make eye contact with Yusuke. “So...what keeps you busy in life?”. 

At first Yusuke did not know how to respond. People had always just asked about his apprenticeship with Madarame. They never really seemed to care about his personal hobbies or interests outside of his field of work.  _ Though, to be fair, I have never really thought about it before. My entire life has been centered around the art world for as far back as I can remember… “ _ I-I don’t really know?”, Yusuke ends up replying. 

Akira ends up hunched over in the chair he is sitting in laughing, “What kind of response is that?”. 

“What kind of question is that?”, Yusuke retorts, but ends up chuckling himself after seeing Akira in such laughter. 

“Usually people will at least with their job, but most of the time they will talk about their hobbies when I ask that question, but, I guess that is part of your charm. You are not like most people”, Akira starts to calm down and gives Yusuke a smile. 

Yusuke is not sure if he should be insulted, or feel complimented, but regardless of the two, he realizes that a blush has begun to cover his face. Still not knowing exactly how to respond, Yusuke decided to turn the question back onto Akira, “Well, what about you, what keeps  _ you _ busy in life?”.

Akira wanted to point out that his question was never fully answered, but decided to let it slide and talked about himself. Well, what he could anyways. “I am currently traveling around with some friends as I learn different forms of cooking. I live at an inn you see, and while Boss can make some killer curry and coffee, that really is about it”, Akira chuckles. 

“You work at an inn?”, Yusuke tilts his head. 

“Yes. It is in a small town west of Sun Kingdom Castle”. 

“Boss, you said? It does not sound like you work for your family’s business then”.

“...No. I was actually disowned”, Akira gives a slight smile that does not reach his eyes, and begins to play with his hair again. 

“I-I am so sorry, I did not mean to offend…”, Yusuke begins to panic.  _ And we just started to try and pack things up! _

“Please, do not worry about it. It is... rather old news now. And, I have found that I prefer my current life to my old one anyways. It is far more fulfilling, and I do not have to worry about keeping face any longer”, Akira chuckles, and Yusuke begins to calm down again. 

“...Save face?”, Yusuke still could not help question Akira, even after his previous mistake. Something in him, however, kept telling him to continue talking to Akira. 

Akira gave a small smile and looked up again, “I am an ex-noble. I...accidently got on the wrong side of a fellow noble who is of higher status than myself. The thing is, though, I still am unsure of what I did wrong. Anyways, during my time as a noble it always felt as if I was walking on eggshells waiting for them to crack at any moment. It is a kind of society where everyone is really just wearing a mask. My excommunication from the nobles was rather, liberating, to say the least. I finally felt like I was able to stand up for myself within this world, as strange as it sounds”.

“I...I am sorry”, Yusuke wanted to ask more, but knew that this was something he really should not push any further. “I guess we all have things we must struggle with…”.

“I guess we do”, Akira gives a small smile.

Yusuke takes a deep breath in, and gives himself a quick nod. He then looks back up to make eye contact with Akira with a newfound determination, “I...I like coffee, and I enjoy looking at flowers, or anything I find aesthetically pleasing for that matter. I rather despise hot places, and prefer locations that are rather cool instead”, Yusuke begins to ramble on. Akira tilts his head in slight confusion, but before he can say anything, Yusuke continues on, “I am replying to your earlier question”. Yusuke gives a slightly awkward smile, hoping that he can change the topic slightly so that Akira does not have to dwell on his past. “I do not have any hobbies outside of painting that I can truly think of at the moment, as painting is all I have ever really known. I am fortunate, however, that is it something that I truly love and am passionate about. My one desire in life is to paint something that is of equal status as Master’s painting of Sayuri”.

“That sounds like a commendable aspiration, and one I think you will achieve sooner than later”, Akira gives Yusuke a gentle smile.

“You really think so?”, Yusuke asks not sounding so sure himself. 

“I really do”, Akira gives an encouraging smile back. 

“But...I am worthless. I have so much to improve on before I could possibly create something that even captures a fraction of the Sayuri”, Yusuke starts to feel self doubt sinking in again as he remembers Madarame’s recent words.

“Well, I cannot claim to know what other people think, however,  _ I  _ do not think you are worthless. If that accounts for anything”, Akira gives Yusuke another small smile. 

Yusuke felt his heart increasing. This was the first kind words directed to Yusuke in...well, as long as he could remember. He did not really know how to respond, so he just gave a small, but genuine smile in return, “T-Thank you”. 

“It is nothing to thank me over, as I am just stating the truth”, Akira gives a small chuckle. 

The two sit in a companionable silence for a few minutes until Akira looks at his pocket watch and realizes that he is way behind schedule for his phantom duties. 

“Well, I cannot keep a sick patient up all day, or I will face the potential wrath of Dr. Takemi, so I best be going”, Akira says to a Yusuke whose face suddenly drops in disappointment. 

“I do not mind you staying longer. I can always sleep at a later time”, Yusuke tries to protest with a small pout that he could not quite hide. 

Akira’s heart clenched, but he knew that Yusuke was still healing, and he  _ really _ did need to get to work on trying to crack the case of Madarame. “I apologize, but you really do need some rest, and I still have to pretend like I am learning something about cooking, or Boss will have my head”, Akira shakes his head. 

“...I understand”, Yusuke says looking rather dismayed at this point. Right before Akira can leave, however, a sudden spark flashes in Yusuke’s eyes, “Akira, if I may ask one more thing?”. 

While Akira never planned on saying ‘no’ to Yusuke’s request, there was definitely no way he would ever be able to say no when he saw Yusuke’s puppy dog eyes. “Of course”, he nods. 

Giving a quick sigh of relief, Yusuke gives himself a nod of encouragement, “May I still paint you? I would greatly appreciate if you would allow me to. I promise I will do my best in hopes of not disappointing you, nor do you any dishonor”. 

“Yusuke…”, Akira takes a deep breath as to avoid repeating yesterday’s mistake. “Yusuke, it would be my pleasure. And for the record, I do not care if you drew me as a stick figure. I would still not find you as a disappointment, nor see it as a dishonor to me”, he smiles at Yusuke.

Yusuke’s whole face brightens up, “You really mean it!?”

“Of course”, Akira chuckles. 

“Wonderful”, Yusuke smiles. “Well, I am sure you have better things to be doing now...and I am feeling a slight bit faint, so I shall get some rest”. 

“Okay. Goodnight, Yusuke. Sweet dreams”, Akira gives a gentle smile, and then heads for the door, as Yusuke blushes at the last part,  _ no one has ever wished me sweet dreams before _ . “Goodnight, Akira”, Yusuke gives a sleepy smile in return.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Few notes:
> 
> 1) I am starting school up again next week, and my workload is looking rather crazy, with LOTS of reading. And, as I mentioned in my previous post, I have some reading disabilities, and ADHD, which coupled with my anxiety disorder makes school a really fun time some times haha Anyways, I don't know when I will be able to update the story once school starts, and I may have to take a few week hiatus here and there, if not more. But, school always comes first for me, so I hope you all understand, and know that I will post when I can. 
> 
> 2) A critically acclaimed professor at my school once said in class, "The best way to talk to someone for the first time is not to ask, "What do you do for a job?", or "Where do you go to school/what do you major?", because that limits the person response. Instead ask, "What keeps you busy?", or "How do you find yourself spending your free time?", because that allows the person to talk about their true passion". While this advice has greatly helped me have many fantastic conversations with people (Sometimes I do have to specify "besides work", but I highly recommend trying this out), I think in the case of my story Yusuke would be one of the few people who would not know how to answer that question. 
> 
> 3) So, I know what some might be thinking, "A location has a name!? WHAT!?". Yeah. I was really not sure about what I wanted to call any of the places in this story, because as I mentioned it was more based around Lupin's background of the late 1800s, early 1900s in Europe. So, I just left them out until I decided what to do. Finally, I decided to just translate the kanji used into English, or take some of the kanji used, and give a spin around that. Like, Sun Kingdom came about from the kanji for sun 日, in the Japanese word for Japan 日本 (Second kanji can mean, book or basis for those who were wondering). But, then I ran into a little issue with Yongen whose kanji is 四軒茶屋. And, while I am not a native speaker of Japanese or whatever, my current knowledge has me know that the last two kanji mean tea, and shop, and the first two kanji mean four and eaves. So, basically it would be something like, "Four Eaves Tea Shop", which sounds more like a name for a tea shop than a city...Anyways, I am open to suggestions on what people think about a name for Yongen, and I am always willing to take some lessons on kanji if someone has a better reading of them than my current knowledge allows for. I am leaning towards taking the four, and turning it into Four Crossings or something, and just make it a small transfer town or something haha


	12. Silent Rebellion

“I don’t even want ta’know”, Ryuji shakes his head in disbelief as he watches Akira with a smug grin carry in a rather large object. “I’ve seen ya bring in some pretty strange hauls, but this looks like pure trash”. 

“One man’s trash, is another man’s treasure”, Akira’s eyes give off a spark of excitement as he puts down the large object. Ryuji looks on in continued skeptic disbelief of Akira’s haul.

“Uh-huh...n’what’s it supposed to be?”

“This is a phonogram. Albeit, a currently broken one, but it should be as good as new in no time with a little tender love and care”, Akira looks fondly at the device. 

“...”, Ryuji is still rather confused as to why Akira is so excited. 

“A phonogram. It is a device that can record sound. Surely even you have heard of it? Anyways, I was thinking this might be just what we need in getting Madarame behind bars”. 

“By makin’ music? Sorry, but I don’t follow how that is gonna help anyone”, Ryuji is left unconvinced. 

“Hmm, yes, I guess you could call it music. At least, a recording of Madarame’s voice admitting to his own crimes would be like music to my ears”, Akira nods with another grin. 

“Sometimes I wonder about ya, Mate”, Ryuji gives an exasperated shake of his head. 

“Madarame is a prideful man, and clever. He has been able to keep his scam going for as long as he has for that very reason. However, it is the prideful clever man that often spills his secrets when he either feels cornered, because his pride wants everyone to know just how ‘good’ he was if he has already been caught. Or, because he believes he won’t be caught, but still wants people to know of his ‘cleverness’. Either way it is rather sickening, but at least it works in our advantage”.

“So…?”, Ryuji is starting to feel like Akira does actually have a plan for this currently broken machine. 

“So, I will sneak into Madarame’s place and hide the phonogram. Then I will tell Madarame that I am after his most desired treasure. Whether he feels successful, or cornered, I should be able to get his confession recorded”.

“And what if people say ya made his voice up?”, Ryuji was surprisingly thinking things through a little more. 

“That is where a camera will come in handy. While many people have not really learned the art of voice forgery yet, it could still be hard to prove entirely. However, I am sure he has plenty of dirty secrets that photos can help with. But...that is also where the difficult part comes in. Camera’s make quite a bright flash among other things, so it will be more difficult to just sneak one in. That is why I need to know a time for certain that Madarame will not be in his shack...so, I will need Yusuke’s help in that regard if I don’t want to try and stalk the man for hours on end”.

“Do ya think he will help ya?”.

“That...I am not sure about. He...still holds an attachment to his master, even after everything the man has put him through. Takemi did point out that, that reality is truly all he knows. So, I cannot help but worry that whatever I end up doing could ultimately leave Yusuke damaged even further. Therefore, I am not sure if it is fair of me to ask him for his assistance in taking down his mentor, when in the end it could only leave him hurting even more”, Akira gives a deep expression of remorse as he contemplates trying to get Yusuke’s help.

Ryuji leans against a wall in the small room they are in, and crosses his arms with a contemplative look, “Ya know, I hate ta say it, but more people like Yusuke are gonna be affected similarly to Yusuke if we don’t stop Madarame. I know ya got a quick attachment to the guy real quick, but is letting him live in Madarame’s lies for ever really a good thing for him?”, Ryuji gives Akira a questioning glance. 

“You are right, but at the same time it pains me to know that all I might do to Yusuke is hurt him even further”, Akira is growing more and more concerned as he continues to think about the end results of his and Yusuke’s budding friendship.

“Maybe you won’t? Yusuke may be brainwashed by this guy, but he is not completely far gone, maybe somethin’ will trigger for him to where he will want ta help ya”, Ryuji actually seems far more serious about this possibility than Akira had initially expected, to where he himself could not help but feel a little bit of hope that this would happen. Regardless, he did realize that he would need to do something about Madarame, because Ryuji was right, if he did not, there would be more Yusukes to come. 

“You cannot have everything, huh”, Akira says as he rubs his chin in a contemplative manner. 

“What’s that?, Ryuji had not quite heard what Akira had said, and looked on a little confused.

“Nothing. Well, I guess I should go see how Yusuke is doing...and see about trying to get some information out of him”.

“Good luck”.

“....Yeah...thanks”, Akira gives Ryuji a slight smile that does not quite reach his eyes as he nods his head, and leaves for the clinic. 

\-----------------------------------------

  
  


Yusuke was pretty sure he could paint the entire room from memory with his eyes closed at this point. While Dr. Takemi made sure that he was well taken care of, she had other patients to attend to, as well as her research. Thus, leaving him alone for the majority of the time, except for when Akira decided to stop by and visit him. Thankfully it was quite often, but still not enough to stop him from remembering every little detail about the room he found himself in.

Yusuke sat up in his bed contemplating whether or not he should try moving, he knew it would probably be a terrible idea, but he felt as if his mind was going to explode if he did not have any kind of new stimulation soon. Thankfully for him, he soon saw a familiar face walk in, which unbeknownst to himself, caused the brightest smile to appear on his face.

“Hello, Akira”, Yusuke said, still having trouble to keep the smile in control.

“Hello, Yusuke. I hope you are feeling better”, Akira smiled back, trying to hide the blush that is fighting to take over after seeing Yusuke’s bright smile.  _ God he is beautiful when he smiles like that…and… I think that smile is directed at me! _ Akira’s heart begins to beat more quickly. 

“I am, thank you. And, I feel I will get better even faster now that you are here”, Yusuke says without missing a beat.

If Akira was not blushing before, he knew he definitely was now.  _ How can he say things like this as if it were as easy as breathing _ . “I...I um”, Akira clears his throat, “I am glad to hear it. Though, I feel as if you would feel better even without my presence”, Akira begins to rub the back of his neck. 

“On the contrary, I find your presence rather calming. In fact, I am always looking forward to our encounters”, Yusuke gives Akira another gentle smile.

_ Seriously...how can he say things like this!? My heart is going to explode with how fast it is going! _ Akira starts to enter into a slight panic, but ties to calm himself down nonetheless. “Ah, right...umm. Well, at the very least I enjoy our conversations as well”.  _ Can you be any smoother? _ , Akira mentally hits himself.

Yusuke fell silent for a few moments, which was enough time for Akira to start to feel even more awkward. Finally Yusuke takes a rather long sigh, as he brushes some loose hairs behind his ear. His entire body had taken on a rather nervous tone, as he slowly rested his hands on his lap. “Dr. Takemi said I should be able to move around in the next day or so”. Akira looked up at Yusuke’s sudden confession with mixed feelings of nervousness as to where this was going, and happiness that he Yusuke was healing properly. However, Yusuke spoke up again before he could say anything. “If it is not too much to ask of you, I was wondering if you would go with me to my old place to pick up my painting supplies. I cannot properly make a piece worthy of my master if I don’t even have the right tools after all…”. Yusuke took another pause to calm himself before he continued, “...Of course, we would have to go when he is not home, as I was not to return, but I really do need these supplies, and I could not ask you to purchase them for me. The medical bills that you are helping to cover alone is more than I could ever properly pay back...though I guess I should pay you for your trouble of coming with me”.

Akira knew that he was unable to hide the complete shock from showing on his face.  _ Did he just ask me to go with him to his master’s house? While he was not there? But, wait could this not possibly put him at extreme risk if he were to be caught while trying to retrieve his things?  _ In the end Akira’s concern for Yusuke outweighed his should be priorities of the mission. “Would this not put you at great risk if you were to be found there? Seeing as what he did last time, I cannot help but worry about being found out”. 

“....That’s”, Yusuke looked away from Akira trying to avoid contact for a moment. “I… the last thing I would want is for you to be in trouble if he were to show up. But, I am confident in knowing his schedule, especially since he has an ongoing exhibit at the moment. There should be a couple of hours two days from now around lunch time that I can guarantee he will not be there”. Yusuke finally made eye contact again with Akira, and this time he had a new look of determination in his eyes.

“Would this not be considered going behind your master’s back?”, Akira was still rather concerned about the safety of Yusuke going back to Madarame’s. “If it is just the supplies you need, I would be more than willing to purchase them for you, or at least let me ask Joker to retrieve your supplies for you”. 

Yusuke took a moment to think about the options that Akira had given him, but something deep down inside of him told him that he should be the one to go. Giving into wherever that silent cry from within came from, Yusuke shook his head with a newfound determination. “No, I should be the one to go. I  _ need _ to be the one to go...however, I am not sure if I could do this by myself quite yet.”

Yusuke could not deny that he was not nervous about going back to Madarame’s empty handed. Let alone, breaking into Madarame’s place without the former knowing. However, deep down inside he could feel something calling out to him that he needed to do this. He also found that he had some underlying enjoyment in the idea that he would be doing something behind Madarame’s back. To him it was like a silent rebellion against his master’s recent treatment towards him. And, in that thought alone, he found a new type of glee. 

Finally, Akira looked up after having spent a few minutes drawing out possible outcomes in his mind, and was greeted with Yusuke’s determined gaze. “...Very well. I will go with you”.

“Thank you, Akira. It truly means a lot to me”, Yusuke gives Akira a genuine smile, with a hint nervous excitement. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I finished up my first week of classes for this semester, and there is just no possible way I will be able to do weekly updates anymore until after the semester is over. I greatly apologize to anyone who has been enjoying the story/weekly updates so far, but all of my classes have so much reading involved, I honestly do not even know how I am going to keep up with them ;-; combine that with being involved in campus research this semester, and I think it is a pure sign that energy are going to be my best friend the rest of this year. Anyways, I will try and work on the story from time to time, but I cannot guarantee any kind of consistent schedule for the time being. I hope you all understand, and thank you for all of the support thus far! It truly does mean a lot to me!


	13. Becoming Like Him

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this chapter will probably be rough proof-reading wise. But, school was really starting to stress me out, so I wanted to take a break and just write to try and relax. So, I apologize in advance if you run into a lot of typos or something!

It only had to take a few seconds of Akira not being in the room anymore for Yusuke to enter into a full on panic mode. The reality of his words was starting to hit him extremely hard, causing him to crumple up into a ball of arms and legs, head hidden between his knees. He tried closing his eyes to block out the reality of the situation, but only succeeded in thinking about it more, as tremors ran through him. 

_ What have I done? Master will surely know that I returned for my supplies, even if he is not home. There is no way I could ever hide something from him. He probably already knows that I am here. Which would mean that he knows what I told Akira and...I need to apologize, quickly. If I don’t Akira could be in danger, which is the last thing I would want for him after all he has done for me.  _

After staying in a panicked mode for a while, Takemi walked through the door and saw him in a complete episode. She quickly went up to him, and tried her best to comfort him. Regardless of what Akira may say, she did always have a soft spot for her patients, and knew when her sarcasm was not needed. 

“Yusuke”, Takemi quietly called out to him, hoping not to startle him. However, as there was no initial response, she spoke his name a little louder, and at hearing his name the second time his tremors lessened slightly. However, he was facing a new panic of having been seen during one of his panic attacks. 

“It is okay, Yusuke. I promise that no one is going to be able to hurt you while you are here. Akira and Joker will make sure of that if I were ever to fail to protect you myself”, Takemi gave a slight chuckle. “Listen, I know it may hurt to talk about it, but it will hurt you even more to keep it bottled up. So, would you mind telling me what has caused you to become so scared?”, Takemi gives Yusuke a compassionate look, trying to convey that she is a safe person to talk to. 

At first Yusuke did not want to tell anyone what he was thinking, but after a few minutes he finally nodded, and tried to speak up. At first his voice came out extremely soft, so he had to clear his throat and try again. 

“Please do not think poorly for my recent behavior. I...I made the mistake of asking Akira to help me in retrieving my art supplies from my master’s place, but I realized that in doing so I would not only be betraying my master, but be putting Akira’s life in danger. No...it is more than that. I know that I have already put him in danger by telling him about Madarame’s schedule”. 

At first Takemi was thinking that Yusuke may know something about Akira being Joker, if telling him about Madarame’s is what caused him to feel Akira was in danger. But, rather than accidentally give away Akira’s identity if that was not the case, Takemi realized she needed to be careful on how she handled the rest of this conversation. 

“How does letting Akira know of your master’s schedule put him in danger. If he simply does not go, then he will not be in danger anymore, right?”, Takemi asks Yusuke more in a manner of just showing that she was listening, rather than interrogating him. This takes Yusuke back for a few seconds, but he quickly warms to the calm comfort that Takemi is giving him. 

“He...my master that is, has always known where I was when I was a child. Even when I tried to hide from him to avoid receiving my punishment for having an incorrect brushstroke, or mixing my paint poorly, he would always be able to find me. The few times I ever tried to speak poorly of him, he would always find out, and lock me out of the house, even if it was snowing outside. If he was always able to find me then, and know when I talked about him as well, than surely he must have some way to read my mind, or at least view where I am at all times...Even now, simply talking to you could put you at risk. Because everyone who has ever tried to help me the few times I spoke up would mysteriously end up with some misfortune”, Yusuke’s voice goes quiet again, as he begins to realize what he has said, and how he has now put Takemi at risk as well as Akira.  _ It would seem all I am good at is hurting those that I care about. _

Before Yusuke could enter into another attack of any kind, Takemi gently placed her hands on his shoulders, and looked Yusuke straight in the eyes. “Yusuke, there is no way that man would have mind reading powers. This is not some fantasy we are living in. What probably happened was someone sold you out, or they were threatened to give away your location. I understand that your master is very important to you, and I do not want to speak unfairly of your master, however...god, I am about to sound like Akira”, Takemi looked rather dismayed with herself for a second, but gave a small smirk at the thought as well before she continued, “However, the treatment you have received from your master is not normal. In my field, it is what is commonly referred to as emotional and physical abuse. I know this may be hard to take in, and I am not expecting you to suddenly come to hate your master in the slightest, but, I do want you to know that what you are experiencing is an extremely painful wound, that even my medicine won’t be able to heal. Only you, and the support of the friends you make will ever be able to heal that. Anyways, what I am trying to say is that Akira and I will not be in anymore danger today, than we were yesterday, or the day before that, or the day before we took you in the first time. And, even if we were, I know Akira would gladly sign up to take a hit for you. Say what you will about the kid, but he is genuinely one of the nicest people you will ever meet”, Takemi begins to quietly laugh. “You know, I am not a psychologist, so I may not be qualified to say this, but I personally think you retrieving your art supplies would be a good thing for you mentally. And, if you are worried about Madarame finding out, don’t be. The only reason why you might run into him would be due to a schedule change you were unaware of. Not because he has some psychic ability”, Takemi gives Yusuke another gentle smile, as she squeezes his shoulder softly. 

Yusuke sits in contemplation for a while, staring down at his hands that are now folded atop his lap. At first he wanted to be mad at Takemi like he had done with Akira the first time they spoke about his master like this, but, what Takemi said did make sense. And, the more time he spent at her clinic and talked with her, Akira, and the other patients, the more he was starting to realize that his situation was….not normal. While he still had his doubts about how bad it really was, he did need his art supplies. And, who knows, maybe going to retrieve them would actually answer some of the silent questions growing in the back of his mind. Yusuke gives a small nod as if to encourage himself, and then looks back at Takemi.

“I...thank you. I think I shall go after all. I still do not think my master to be truly a terrible person...but I do need my supplies, and I cannot live on doubting my feelings, nor my master, for any longer”. 

Takemi gives a small smile and then stands up and hits Yusuke on the head with her clipboard in a similar fashion that she does with Akira, “Glad to hear it. You know, you and Akira are a lot more alike than either of you probably even realize”. 

Yusuke smiles up at her, “Well, I am growing quite fond of Akira’s presence. So, being like him is probably not a bad thing”. He thinks about it for a second, “No, it is definitely a good thing”. 

“Alright. And, that right there is my queue to leave, lest you start gushing about how much you like him to me”, Takemi teases as she leaves the room with a final wave. Yusuke on the other hand has a faint blush that begins to spread rapidly across his face. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, important question here, but not really related to this particular story. But, I was replaying Persona 5 recently, and Yusuke often talks about having little money for food, or how cheap bean sprouts are (to be fair, they are. A bag cost me like...30 yen when I was living in Japan?). Anyways, here I am as Akira, with like 2+ million dollars worth of Yen in my pocket, going to maid cafes with way too much whipped cream on their fluffy pancakes, spending money at the arcade and on video games etc., and yet there is no option to donate funds to the "Feed Yusuke Foundation". Please let me feed the poor starving boy!
> 
> Another side note, I don't know if people have been paying to the titles of the chapters, but usually I come up with them by taking a line/concept that I feel is a good summary of the chapter. In this case, I came up with the name based on how Takemi expresses how she was going to sound like Akira, and how she then referred to Yusuke as being a lot like Akira. I thought this was an interesting concept from the chapter, because in real life the experts always say that you take on qualities and traits of those you hang around a lot. So, the fact that both Takemi and Yusuke are showing similar traits to Akira is not unusual. I also chose the name in regards to Yusuke for another reason, but it is kinda a spoiler if I tried to explain that too much. I will just say, it probably is not what you are thinking, but you should probably realize it when it does appear in the story. Though, it will be a little bit longer probably before it does. Anyways, enough rambling from me. I hope you enjoyed the chapter ~ ^_^


	14. Confidence is Key

 

Akira left to go tell the others about the rather sudden advancement in the Madarame case. While he was happy that the case was moving forward, he found that what really improved his mood was hearing Yusuke finally speak out against his master. Even if it was just in subtext hidden from the overall conversation. It did not change the fact that Yusuke wanting to go back against his master like this was a small rebellion of his own. While Akira usually kept a rather calm demeanor, he found that he was unable to hide the grin that was beginning to consume his entire face at the moment. Things really could not have gone any better. 

Once he reached the current hideout he found that only Morgana was inside at the moment. However, that did not really surprise him as Ann could not come too often as she was busy running her duchy lately, and Ryuji was busy helping some local merchants with the transport of their goods. He was still silently wishing that at least one of the two missing confidants were present to hear the news, but his plan really did only require Morgana at this point, so it was not exactly urgent that they be there.

“I’m back”, Akira announces as he hangs his jacket on a rack by the door.

“Took you long enough. I was starting to wonder if your job was that of a phantom thief, or a man in waiting”, Morgana rolled his eyes. 

“Come now, Yusuke is hurt. I am just doing what is proper of me as a gentleman”, Akira feigned hurt annoyance. “Anyways, this is hardly an important matter at the moment”, Akira quickly changes the topic with a more serious expression beginning to take over the cheesy grin he had, had all afternoon. “Remember the broken phonograph I brought back a little bit ago? How soon do you think we could have it repaired by?”.

“A couple of weeks? Why?”, Morgana begins to take on a more serious expression as he notices the change in Akira’s.

“How about by tomorrow? I have had some major breakthroughs on the case that require the phonograph to be ready”.

“Tomorrow!? What in the world happened that would make you say we needed to complete a task like this in such a short notice!?”, Morgana was starting to become a little concerned at this point as to what exactly Akira had planned. Akira then started to explain in detail what had just taken place back when he was visiting Yusuke at Takemi’s clinic.

 

\-------------------------

 

“Are you an idiot? You’re an idiot, aren't you”, Morgana shakes his head in wide-eyed disbelief. “I mean, I would expect this kind of rash behavior from Ryuji, but you Akira? I think you should start spending less time with spiky, lest his poor judgement deter yours further”.

“Ryuji has nothing to do with this, Morgana. Anyways, this may be our only chance at actually getting some information on Madarame, at least from Yusuke. And, if I remember correctly, that was our plan all along”. 

“You are just saying this because you want to help the guy you are currently smitten with”, Morgana looked doubtful. 

“I won’t deny that there is a part of me that would like to help Yusuke personally. However, even you must see how big of an opportunity this is for us. I know it is risky, especially since I will be entering as Akira, and not Joker, but what hiest have we completed that has not had any risk? Besides, something must be done before Madarame hurts someone else, which he will do even if Yusuke is not there. You and I both know this, which is why we targeted him in the first place”.

Akira’s argument, while still risky, was solid. Morgana did realize that this could be their best chance, but he could not help but hesitate due to Akira going as Akira. It brought up the risk for everyone involved with Joker tremendously. “It is still really risky. If you fail the rest of us will be in great danger...However, you have a plan, don’t you”, Morgana gives Akira one more look over when he notices that Akira is oddly calm and confident given the stacks against him.

Akira gives a sly smile upon hearing Morgana’s remark and gives a small bow, “Why of course. I am Joker Arsene after all”.

“So, what is the plan, oh great Joker Arsene?”, Morgana joins in with the theatrics, as he gives an exaggerated bow in return to Akira’s. 

“Yusuke will need something to carry his supplies in, so he should not become suspicious I were to bring one of my suitcases with me. However, within that suitcase I will have Joker’s clothes hidden inside, as well as the phonograph. Once we arrive I will make an excuse to briefly walk away from Yusuke, at which point I will find a place to hide the phonograph, as well as Joker’s attire just in case. If Madarame truly does not appear, than the phonograph will be set in place for when Joker makes his entrance during the heist. As mentioned before, a cornered man, or an overly confident man will talk, and the phonograph will record it all. However, on the off chance that Madarame does show up, I will need to find a way to quickly get back to my attire as Joker and put it on. Yusuke may be able to figure out it is me at that point, but I feel his master will be giving him enough of a “lecture” to even bother selling me out at that point.Well, as long as I can get him out of Madarame’s place safely in time that is. Regardless, I may still be able to acquire some dialogue worth recording during this time, as it will show the harsh behavior towards his students, and he may let something else slip. So, it is not a complete loss if Madarame does show up. Just a much more dangerous situation”. 

“And, you really think you can pull it off?”

“Of course. There is no room for doubt. The moment I start doubting this plan, the moment all hell breaks loose”, Akira says affirming his resolve to Morgana.

“Well...I guess we will need to figure out how to fix that phonograph by tomorrow then”, Morgana gives Akira a small mischievous smile. 

“Thank you, Morgana. I knew I could count on you”, Akira gives a genuine smile of appreciation back. 

“What kind of master thief mentor would I be if I could not help my apprentice in something as simple as this?”, Morgana gave a hurt look. “Why, I would be no better than Madarame, now would I?”. 

“Well, if you were like him, I am pretty sure I could take you down easily. Besides, poor is the student who does not surpass his master”, Akira gives a sly smile to Morgana. 

“Someone is confident”, Morgana rolls his eyes. 

“Thank you”, Akira gives another grin and short bow. 


	15. The Emperor's New Clothes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This has got to be the shortest chapter yet ^^;

After a coffee induced energy rush, Akira and Morgana had been able to successfully repair the phonograph. However, Akira was now sporting rather dark bags under his eyes as a trophy of their accomplishment. After one final cup of coffee, Akira headed towards Takemi’s clinic, trying to gather his thoughts in preparation of explaining why he had a suitcase with him.  _ I really cannot afford to slip up here if I hope to maintain any contact with Yusuke _ , Akira thought to himself, which only caused him more panic about the oncoming interaction.

While Akira had been expecting Yusuke to comment on the suitcase he carried with him, he was not prepared for the actual event that had taken place.

“I very highly doubt that you will be needing that suitcase. Madarame’s place is not even an hours walk from here”, Yusuke gestured towards the case in question.

“...”, Akira was not exactly sure how to respond. This was not an actual synopsis that he had anticipated, so he had not practiced what to say. Sure, he expected the artist to notice the suitcase, but he had honestly thought that Yusuke would be more concerned about a case being brought to Madarame’s place as a potential way of taking things that were not his.  _ Was this just because I am thinking from a thieves mindset now? _ Not knowing what to say, Akira just stared at Yusuke wide-eyed.  _ I am too tired for this _ , Akira thought to himself as he tried to come up with words to say.  __ Finally, Akira said the first thing that came to mind, but did so in quite the flustered manner. 

“Ah, right. Yes, you see, um, this is actually for...your stuff? I figured that you would need something to put your belongings in...unless you would like to continue wearing the clinic’s robe all of the time”,  _ smooth _ , Akira thought to himself as he gestured to the attire Yusuke was currently in, which was a blue robe that tied in the back. Not stylish, but allowed Takemi easy access to run exams. A faint blush began to dust across Yusuke’s face once he became more aware of what he was wearing. 

“That...would be rather improper of me to walk around in nothing but a gown such as this...Yes, bringing more of my clothing would probably be for the best”, Yusuke gave Akira a small nod of agreement, but was trying his hardest to avoid making eye contact. 

Akira gave a sigh of relief once Yusuke seemed to have bought his terrible excuse of an explanation. He felt bad about lying about the main purpose of the suitcase, but it was not a complete lie. He did hope to help Yusuke retrieve more of his belongings on this trip, including clothes. “Well, then”, Akira began to rub the back of his neck, “Shall we get you dressed in something a little less...revealing before we head out?”.

Yusuke nodded, still trying to avoid eye contact. “Yes...that would be a good. However, I am afraid that the clothing I was wearing before I arrived here would also attract unwanted attention…”, Yusuke did not want to finish the sentence, but Akira understood what Yusuke was getting at nonetheless. As, the clothing Yusuke had been wearing upon his arrival was torn up, and bloodstained due to the injuries he had received from Madarame. Just thinking about the state Akira had found him in caused a rage to boil within him anew.  _ Not now, Akira. Madarame will get what is coming to him in due time _ , Akira had to chant this to himself lest he accidentally allow his anger to hurt Yusuke again. 

“No, worries. I am afraid you are a tad too tall for my own clothing, but I can see about acquiring some clothes for you for the meantime”, Akira said as he silently kicked himself for not thinking about this sooner. “In the meantime, how about you wash up while you wait?”

“That would be wonderful”, Yusuke smiled, eyes closed.  _ A bath would be most appreciated right about now _ , Yusuke thought silently to himself. 

Akira gave Yusuke a quick glance, and smiled when he saw the excited face Yusuke was having trouble hiding. “Well then, I shall return shortly”, Akira said with a slight bow as he tipped his hat and headed for the door. 

“I shall await your return”, Yusuke smiled back with a wave of his hand. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am aware that I have changed the writing style. This is actually closer to how I prefer reading stories/writing them in. However, when I first started this story I for some reason wrote it in present tense as if the actions were happening right then and there. Nothing wrong with that style, but it is just not how I usually write. Being the lazy person that I am however, instead of changing it early on I just kept writing in that style. However, just now while I was writing this chapter I realized I reverted back to my old/preferred style of writing. Instead of going back to make it match with the older chapters, I decided it was a good incentive for me to eventually go back and 1) properly proofread my old chapters, and 2) make the switch to my preferred style of writing. I don't know when exactly that will happen, as school and work have made me have no life what so ever, but it will happen eventually. Though, I was wondering if people would 1) prefer to have new chapters written first before the fixes to older chapters, or 2) have the fixes be made before I continue the story. Let me know in the comments, and I will go with the more popular consensus. 
> 
> Also, I could not resist the title for this chapter once my sleep deprived self thought about the children's story, and how Yusuke is of the Emperors arcana haha


	16. Echoing Silence

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As per usual, I wrote this on limited sleep. So, please forgive any errors.

To be honest, Akira was not expecting this at all. Yes, he knew that Yusuke was one of the more...attractive people he had ever met, but the poor boy had always been in rather worn out clothing. Or a hospital gown, but Akira did not want to dwell on how that particular outfit revealed his…. Anyways, the point is he was not prepared to see Yusuke actually dressed up for once. Even if the clothes were only average at best, the irony of it all was that Yusuke still looked like the kind of model artists could only dream of painting. His black slacks were snug in all of the right places, while his blue vest gave an overall pop of color to his monochrome shirt and jacket. The part that really stood out to Akira, however, was the -

“Is something the matter?”, Yusuke asked questioningly while nodding his head to the side. A small strand of hair fell in front of his face, but he did not seem to notice. Akira on the other hand instantly turned beet red once he realized he had been caught staring at Yusuke.

“Ah! Er, um, no?! E-everything is just fine. I was, er...just thinking about how nice the weather is today”, Akira gave an unconvincing laugh, but for some reason Yusuke did not seem to think much of it. “Hm”, Yusuke nods in agreement, “If overcast days with the chance of rain is what one refers to as nice, then it is indeed quite pleasant”.

“...”, Akira wanted to find somewhere to hide his head in embarrassment. Instead Akira did the next best thing he could think of and head out the door motioning for Yusuke to follow along. “We should probably get going if we want to make it back by evening”, Akira said looking over his shoulder to see if Yusuke was following him.

“R-right”, Yusuke nodded while following closely behind Akira’s tailcoat. “ _Why does this seem so familiar?”,_ the blue haired man thought to himself.

\----

The trip to Madarame’s shack was rather uneventful, thankfully. Akira also decided that it was for the best that Yusuke stayed behind him most of the time, or else he could not guarantee that he could control his eyes. As they arrived in front of Madarame’s shack Yusuke made a small noise and quickly stood behind Akira. Akira could not help but feel like the young man behind him was more like a frightened animal. That thought alone angered Akira to no end, as it would take an unusual amount of cruelty to bring someone to act like this. Putting the embers of rage in his pit aside, Akira looked to Yusuke with a small gentle smile, “Do you happen to have your keys with you?”.

Yusuke looked completely dumbfounded for a second, and then dread started to overtake his face quickly, “I... I am afraid I lost them during my…. last encounter with my master”.

Akira did not want Yusuke to dwell on his past experience for too long, so he quickly shrugged his shoulders and brought out the skeleton key he had made a few nights prior. “It is not an issue. I thought it might be nice to use an official key, _ if to but only make you feel slightly better about sneaking into Madarame’s place” _ , Akira thinks the last bit to himself. “However, it is not like Arsene to leave his companions empty handed when it comes to…infiltration like endeavors”. Yusuke starred at the key for a few moments before realization of what Akira was referring to started to sink in.

“But...this would be going completely behind my master’s back”, Yusuke protested. “...Let alone I would be dragging you into something illegal for my sake”, he whispered the last part far more quietly.

Akira could not help but give a slight chuckle as he went up to Yusuke and put his hand on the other man’s shoulder, giving a reaffirming pat, “Please, this would hardly be the first time I have done things on a more...questionable grey area. I am an acquaintance of Arsene after all”.

“But-!”

“No buts!”, Akira interrupted quickly. “You need your personal belongings after all. Madarame cannot deny you that. Besides, I need to get a chance to show you my more dashing side. Arsene cannot receive all the glory”, Akira waggled his eyebrows while giving a sly smirk.

“I do not see how breaking into a place is charming”, Yusuke sighed while scrunching his eyebrows. “Besides, you have already shown me a multitude of times of how dashing you can be…”, Yusuke mumbled the last bit quietly enough that Akira didn't quite make out everything he had said, but he knew better than try to push the topic at the moment...he also did not want to get his hopes up by creating a misunderstanding. Instead, Akira just straightened up and gave a soft laugh while poking Yusuke’s temple with his index finger, “You worry too much. It will all be fine. We are just picking up  _ your _ own belongings. There is no reason to feel guilty in picking up that which is yours”.

“...”, Yusuke did not say anything, but gave his conviction through a small nod.

A sly smirk started to cover Akira’s face as he almost waltzed up to the door, twirling the skeleton key in hand. Yusuke could not help but feel as if he had seen this smile and gait from a certain phantom thief before, but decided it was just coincidence. “ _ They are friends, after all” _ , Yusuke thought to himself. A small bout of jealousy started to stir in his gut, but he could not figure out as to why.

“Annnnd, there we go”, Akira’s excitement on getting the door to open brings Yusuke back to his current surroundings. Meanwhile, Akira begins to laugh as he holds the door for Yusuke and giving a small bow, “After you, my good sir”. Yusuke cannot hide the smile that starts to breakthrough at the corner of his lips as he nods his head in thanks and walks through the door. Akira follows Yusuke inside, leaving the suitcase right inside at the door. Of course, Yusuke notices this and tilts his head to the side.

“Are we not using this?”

“Of course, we are. I just figured I would put it down while we get your belongings together. I figured it would just be in the way while we search for all of your items”, Akira gave a slight shrug, hoping that the rather obvious excuse was enough to convince Yusuke. Thankfully it was, as the young man simply nodded his head and walked further into the shack.

“ _ I…. cannot believe he bought that...He trusts me too much...I feel rather guilty for once... _ ”, Akira thought to himself. “So, which room is yours? I have a feeling Madarame has probably not touched your stuff much since you were last in here”.

“Ah, yes. It is over this way. It really is not much, however. So, it should not take us too long to gather everything together”.

“I see. Well, that is good then.”, Akira nodded. However, he was hoping he could figure out a way to stall Yusuke long enough for Morgana to sneak in and set up the phonograph.

Akira knew not to expect much in the way of comfort when walking into Yusuke’s room. However, he was not expecting to see a bed made out of old straw with only a thin worn out sack for a blanket. The rest of the room comprised of worn out art supplies, with no signs of life anywhere else. The anger in Akira started to grow again. “ _ This is not how anyone should be treated. I knew it was bad, but this...this is at an entirely different level _ ”, he thought to himself. Before Akira could dwell on his growing feelings of anger and disgust towards Madarame, however, Yusuke brought out an old worn out sketchbook. A small smile began to spread across Yusuke’s face as he gingerly handed it to Akira.

“These sketches were made around the same time that the Sayuri was painted. While they never made it to canvas, each one shows a unique depth of emotion that I aspire to put into my own pieces. Madarame said that he had no need for this book, and was going to just throw it away, but he allowed me to hold onto to it after I protested to keep it”, Yusuke’s smile began to look bittersweet as he recalled the memory.

Akira opened up the sketchbook with as much care as Yusuke had, had when handing it to him. Inside were many different sketches of people and scenery, each displaying a multitude of themes. However, he could not help but notice that each one was in the same artistic style as the Sayuri. “Does Madarame not paint in this style anymore? I cannot help but feel it a little odd that he would stop using this style all of the sudden”, Akira asked while continuing to look through the sketchbook.

“No...he said that the muse for this style of art had left this world, and that he could not continue it without them”, Yusuke’s eyes began to look downcast.

“I see”, was all that Akira could manage to say. He could not help but feel that he was looking at more stolen artwork. However, he knew better than to voice his opinions on the matter to Yusuke at this point. Instead, Akira handed the sketchbook back to Yusuke and gave a small smile, “I look forward to the day that you can show me such a magnificent piece such as these. I am sure that it will not be long for that matter”.

Yusuke’s eyes lit up extremely with an excitement that Akira had never seen before. “I surely hope so. It is my life’s desire after all”

As Yusuke began to sort through his art supplies again, Akira quickly excused himself. “It looks like you just about have everything? I guess I should go bring the suitcase in now, huh?”.

“That would be very much appreciated”, Yusuke hummed in agreement, as he continued sorting through sketchbooks. Akira wanted to comment on why Yusuke was not going through his clothes, but figured he would not like the answer that he would receive. So, instead he left the room to try and see what he could find for incriminating evidence, as well as a place to set up the phonograph.

“Well, this is quite the find”, Akira whispered as he stumbled across a large blue door with intricate designs carved into it. One look at the lock was enough to let Akira know that whatever Madarame was trying to hide was behind that door. Which, also mean that this would be the perfect spot to set up the phonograph. However, the issue was trying to pick the lock quickly enough so as to not raise Yusuke’s suspicion. For now, he realized that he should at least make an appearance with the suitcase in Yusuke’s room, empty of course, and find some other excuse to give him time to pick the lock.

“Ah, you have the suitcase with you”, Yusuke looks up briefly before sorting out which brushes he would like to bring back with him.

“Yes”, Akira nods. “However,....I was wondering if there might be a place to...relieve myself? I fear that I may have eaten something that did not sit quite right with my stomach”, Akira feigned an upset stomach. However, the embarrassment he was expressing was actually genuine.

“Oh! Of course. Down the hall to the right you should find a lavatory…. however, I am not sure if the water is running at the moment…”, Yusuke said, while looking rather concerned.

“There should be some water elsewhere in the house? Perhaps the kitchen? I will quickly have a look around if that is all right”, Akira asks, hoping that this excuse will buy him enough time to have a go at that lock.

“I don’t know if we should be wandering around -”, Yusuke starts to protest.

“It will be okay! However, I really don’t know how much longer my stomach will be okay”, Akira cringed at his own excuse, however, Yusuke just took it as a pained expression due to his stomach being upset. “ _ I have a feeling this guy would be the victim of many poorly acted scams”,  _ Akira could not help but think to himself. Thankfully Yusuke nodded in response to Akira’s poor acting, and simply went back to debating what supplies to bring with him. Akira sent Yusuke another silent apology before he made his way back to the conspicuous blue door.

“ _ Okay, time to figure out this lock”, _ Akira thought to himself. It was definitely one of the most intricate locks he has seen during his entire career as a phantom thief. It was even more of a challenge than anything Kamoshida had around in his duchy. “ _ I hate to admit it, but Madarame is far more intelligent than Kamoshida ever was...This might prove a far greater annoyance than I had initially anticipated”,  _ Akira thought as he continued to try using a different combinations of skeleton keys and lock picks. To say that Akira was starting to feel a little bit nervous would be an understatement. He could feel the sweat increasingly start to form on the back of his neck with each failed attempt. He was on a time limit, but nothing the was doing was working. 

After trying a few other techniques he knew, Akira thought he had finally picked the lock, only to have a loud cracking sound occur when one of his lockpicks broke. “ _ Shit” _ , Akira knew that Yusuke must have heard the pick, as the sounds of Yusuke’s shuffling stopped completely. The shack was now so quiet that the phrase “you could hear a pin drop” was never so applicable as it was now. 

Apparently some deity was watching over Akira today, as instead of running over to see what the commotion was, Yusuke spoke up in a rather nervous voice from across the hall. 

“W-what was t-that? I-is everything alright?”, the dread in Yusuke’s voice startled Akira for a moment, but he then realized that Yusuke was probably fearing the worst, and that Madarame had shown up unexpectedly. 

“It was nothing. At least, not inside. I am pretty sure there were some cats fighting outside. One of them must have taken quite the tumble into some crates nearby or something”, Akira hoped that the excuse would be enough to calm Yusuke down. He also hoped that the alley next to the shack would be like any other stereotypical alley filled with stray cats, or else Yusuke would see right through him. Thankfully, this did not seem to be an odd assumption, as Yusuke let out a rather loud sigh of relief.

“Thank goodness”, the relief in Yusuke’s voice was extremely apparent, and Akira found that in turn his heart rate was able to slow down. He felt even more relief once he realized that while the lockpick had broken, he had been able to unlock the door. That is, until Yusuke had to continue talking. “Are you feeling better now? I know I got caught up in packing my stuff, but you must have been gone for awhile…”, Yusuke’s voice drew nearer as he walked out into the hallway.

In a panic, Akira quickly kicked the phonograph behind a small beam behind him, hoping that he did not accidently break something in the process. “Ah, yes. I fear that I should not trust random street vendors again when they offer up a sale on discounted food”, Akira gave a small chuckle. However, his apparent closeness to the blue door, and therefore distance from the latrine did not go unnoticed by Yusuke. He may be aloof at times, by the young man had an extremely keen eye Akira realized far too lately. 

“I see…”, The doubt in Yusuke’s voice was starting to show, and it made the guilt that Akira had been feeling all day begin to worsen. “I am afraid we cannot stay back here. This area is off limits to anyone except for my master”, Yusuke began to search Akira’s face as if he were to find some answers as to why Akira was near the door, but soon stopped as if he decided that he was reading too much into something. Gesturing back to the door to his room Yusuke spoke again, “I am about ready to go, so if you are feeling better I think we should probably leave soon”. 

Akira knew that he had missed his opportunity of not letting Yusuke in on his plan once Yusuke stepped out of his room. However, he realized that a chance like this may not come again for a long time, so he steeled his resolve and looked straight into the other young man’s eyes. “Yusuke, have you ever wondered what could be kept behind this door? I mean, it seems odd that something this...elaborate would be found in a rather run down shack such as this”, Akira gestured around to emphasize what he was saying. 

Rather than being immediately offended, Yusuke looked concerned. Yusuke’s voice began to crack as he took on an obviously nervous stance. “I-it is just Master’s private quarters. Obviously, he would not want anyone to be able to just walk right in. Anyways, we really shouldn’t be here!”, Yusuke’s nervous tremors were starting to become far more apparent. 

Akira was starting to feel bad for causing Yusuke to go through this obviously stressful situation, however, he also felt that it would honestly help Yusuke in recovering from his abuse if he were to take this step forward. “But, wouldn’t you like to see what is behind this door just once? I mean, this door really  _ is _ fancy. Besides, he won’t even have to know we were in here as long as we don’t actually  _ touch _ anything”, Akira pushed on. Even if not for helping Yusuke, Akira really did want to get inside. He knew that Madarame would have everything of importance moved somewhere else if he were to return and have even the slightest suspicion that someone had broken in. And, as it were, the unlocked door would be a pretty good sign that someone had entered in...let alone the soon to be missing belongings of Yusuke’s. 

“I-”, whatever Yusuke was going to say was cut off as a shuffle at the front door could be heard. The blood in Yusuke’s face drained, as Akira could feel his own blood turn cold. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew! Long time no see, everyone! I am still contemplating if I am dead, or if I survived the semester somehow. Regardless of the outcome, I am very much sleep deprived, so I keep passing out from exhaustion in the most random places >.< Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and thank you again to all the people who have left me lovely comments! I may have not replied to them all yet, but I do read them, and they give me the extra nudge I need to keep writing! Anyways, I hope to have another chapter written soon, as I realize this one is being left on a cliffhanger (sorry about that). However, I do seem to be coming down with a cold, so it might have to wait until after Christmas? I guess only time will tell. Anyways, thank you for sticking around ~


	17. Awakening

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the 101 kudos! It means a lot!

Yusuke could not tell if his heart had stopped, or if it was beating uncontrollably fast. His vision began to blur, and he could barely make out any of the objects surrounding him. He tried looking towards were Akira had last been, but he could no longer see him. He wanted to call out to the dark haired man, but his voice could not be found. His hands were always slightly colder than the next person’s, but right now they were as cold as ice, even though a cold sweat was still able to break out. “ _ Why did I ever think this would work? Why did I ever think that we would not be caught? Why-”,  _ before Yusuke could continue in his silent cry, loud footsteps could be heard drawing closer. Each step caused Yusuke’s heart to drop even more, a deep dread began to fill him. Finally, his worst fear materialized right in front of him. And, while most of Yusuke’s vision was still blurry, he found that he could see Madarame’s face quite clearly. 

“What are you doing here, boy?”, Madarame snarled at Yusuke, not bothering to hide his disdain for the younger man. Yusuke’s voice was caught in his throat, so much so that he was not able to make even the slightest of whimpers. Madarame glanced Yusuke over, until he found Yusuke holding onto a couple of paint brushes that he had not packed yet. A crooked grin crossed Madarame’s face as he took in the sight.

“Found enough inspiration to paint again that you were willing to break into  _ MY _ place, did you?”, Yusuke could only stand there as he watched Madarame in continued fear. Yusuke’s silence, however, did not stop Madarame from continuing on. “Well, if it enough inspiration to make a coward like yourself to break into my place, then it must mean you are about to make a masterpiece. One that will make me a lot more than any of the other pieces you have made”, Madarame gave a dark laugh. “Very well, I cannot forgive your improper behavior, but I will give you another chance to paint for me. As punishment for your behavior, you will only be given enough food to survive...let’s say, once every five days? Water will be given to you once a day. I don’t want you completely passing out on me now do I? I mean afterall, I still need you to paint this piece for my new exhibit. Now, if this painting succeeds, then I will allow you to stay in your room as if what happened last time never even occurred. However”, Madarame drew closer to Yusuke until he was right in front of the other man’s face, “if you fail me again, well, it is safe to say it is the  _ last  _ thing you will ever do”. 

Yusuke remained silent, his mind was racing. He was in such a panic that he had forgotten that he came here with someone. Came here with  _ Akira _ . Suddenly, he remembered that Akira had been with him, but that Madarame had never acknowledged the other man.  _ “Where did he go? I thought he was here? Did he abandon me? No...no, he wouldn’t do that?...Would he?”,  _ a new type of panic started to fill Yusuke’s gut, but before he could dwell on it too much a slow, loud clap could be heard from behind him. From the door that he had previously thought was locked. Madarame too was surprised at the intrusion, and quickly turned his attention to the door.

“My, my, my, what a show you have delighted us with today”, came a voice from the mysterious figure still hidden in the shadows. One could hear the smirk that the new party member must have had on their face, as sarcasm oozed from their tone. “Are you sure you are not an actor? You play the evil villain oh so well that even  _ I _ got chills”. The figure finally stepped out of the doorway, leaving a very confident looking man whose face was hidden beneath a mask. Beneath  _ Arsene’s _ mask. 

Yusuke let out a silent gasp, as he realized he had forgotten to breathe at some point. There was something about the newcomer that seemed so familiar to him. Yes, he knew who Arsene was, but there was something else about him that seemed...well, it seemed a lot more like a certain silver eyed man he knew. What exactly that was, however, he was not quite sure. Afterall, Akira and Arsene were friends, and they say friends take on traits of each other’s overtime. However, this seemed different. He realized just what it was when the man spoke again, his voice. There is no way that Yusuke could ever mistake that voice anymore, not after how much time he had spoken with the other man who spent so much time taking care of him. Even if the other man played up his voice to sound different, there was no way Yusuke could mistake it any longer. That voice was Akira’s! 

“Ah, but if you are not an actor, then you must be an actual villain. Which would mean this young man is the damsel in distress...though that term has quite a few issues considering it kind of implies that only a female can be in distress, and that-”, Akira started to mumble to himself about his dislike for the modern terminology being used, but before he could continue on, Madarame spoke up. 

“And, what exactly are  _ you _ doing in  _ there!? _ ”, his anger was clear in his voice, and could easily scare most people who happened to witness it. However, Arsene was  _ not _ most people, so he just gave a smirk as he replied with an exaggeratedly deep bow. 

“Oh, where are my manners! It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Monsieur Madarame, plagiarizer of art. My name is Joker Arsene. However, based on your expression I guess you have already figured out who I am”, Joker gave a slight shrug. “None the less, I cannot help but say that I am quite impressed with the sheer amount of plagiarism going on behind this door. It puts a new perspective on the term ‘thief’, wouldn’t you say?”, Joker’s eyes narrowed from behind the mask, as he stared directly at Madarame. 

Yusuke glanced towards Madarame in confusion after hearing what Joker, no  _ Akira _ , had said. “What do you mean-?”, Yusuke trailed off, as he realized that he had actually spoken aloud. Joker gave him a kind smile as he looked towards the young blue haired man, and then spoke a little more softly, as his response was directed towards him. 

“I mean exactly what I say. This man who stand before us not only steals the work of his current students, but he continues to mass produce a particular piece behind these doors”, Joker took a short break before he continued, “I am afraid the particular piece of interest is one that you hold very close to your heart, the Sayuri”.

Yusuke’s heart dropped for what felt like the hundredth time that day after hearing a name he was not expecting to come up. He looked at Madarame with sadness and confusion, while a slight rage started to build inside of him as well. “N-no! This must be a lie, there is no way that master would do such a thing!”.

An abrupt laughter broke out before Yusuke could continue. “You think anything will change by letting him know about the copies of the Sayuri? Don’t make me laugh. How long do you think I have been  _ training _ him for? This boy is as good as mine! And. as for the Sayuri, of course I would make copies. Do you know how much money can be made by telling private collectors that you have found the lost Sayuri? With that kind of money I would never have to work again”, Madarame’s laughter started to take on quite the maniacal sound as he drew closer to Yusuke. However, Joker pulled Yusuke into the room behind them before Madarame could get any closer. Yusuke only had a few quick seconds to glance around the room before Madarame broke back into the room. 

“You really think you can get away? Only a fool would underestimate me, and the connections that I have.

Akira who was still holding on to Yusuke tightened his grip slightly, as he felt Yusuke freeze within it. After looking around the room, Yusuke looked back towards Madarame in utter despair.

“M-master, what is the meaning of this? Has everything up to now been just a lie? You told me you were just in a slump, but this”, Yusuke gestures to the room, “...this is beyond a slump”. 

Madarame gave a dark laugh, “Well, I guess there is no hiding it now. Besides, my guards will be here shortly and do a fine job of making sure you are never able to speak of this again. Let’s just call it a...parting gift”, Madarame broke out into more laughter. “You see, I created the rumor that the Sayuri had been stolen. After all, can you imagine the amount people are willing to pay when they are told, ‘I found the real painting, but it can’t go public....You can have it for a special price though…’. How is that for preferential treatment!? Rich nobles who try to brag about their wealth eat it up, and pay good cash at that!”,

Yusuke could no longer feel his feet anymore. He was certain he would have fallen to the ground if it were not for the strong arms behind him that was holding him up. Yusuke could not even begin to process what he had just heard before Madarame continued. 

“The worth of art is purely subjective. Thus, this is a legitimate business transaction. Though, I doubt an idiot like you could ever come up with such a brilliant scheme!”, Madarame looked down on Yusuke with discorn. “Art is nothing but a tool...A tool to gain money and fame! You helped me greatly as well, Yusuke. Plucking talented, yet troubled artists allows me to find promising pupils and take their ideas. Afterall, it is much easier to steal the futures of children who can’t fight back. Livestock are killed for their hide meat, and this is no different. Now that I think back, the only reason why I took you in was due to my ties with your mother. That woman never lost her passion for painting even after her husband died. Her skills and talents were quite astonishing...That’s why I decided to look after her. Your mother and the artwork she created -- They’re all  _ MY _ works of art! Do you see that painting on the easel over there? The one with the child? That is the  _ real _ Sayuri. Your mother had painted it as gift to her son, but before it could ever make it out to the public...well, an unfortunate accident occurred leaving her gasping for breath. I guess I could have sought help, or helped her myself, but...well...this way I could take her art as my own, and tell others that her death was due to her poor health. I saw the potential in the Sayuri afterall. All it needed was to have the child covered. That way it would leave people speculating as to why the woman was making such a face. And, it worked. People ate it up big time!”, Madarame started to laugh again before continued. “I took you in afterwards without really quite knowing why, but it paid off big time. Afterall,  _ you _ became my artwork, just like your mother”.

Yusuke felt as if his whole world had just ended. The man whom he had thought of as a father figure turned out to be even worse than he had ever imagined. Sure, he had known that Madarame was not the best person, but he continued to turn a blind eye. However, he knew right then and there that he could do so no longer. A new found anger ran throughout him, and he found that his voice started to materialize again “...-acceptable”, he quietly uttered. 

“Pardon?”, Madarame smirked. 

“This is unacceptable! I wanted to believe that it wasn’t true...I had clouded my vision for so long...My eyes were truly blind...blind and unable to see the true self behind this one horrible man…! The children who adored you as ‘master’...The prospects of your pupils...How many did you trample upon? How many lives did you exchange for riches. No matter what it takes, I  _ will _ bring you to justice!”, Yusuke stood up straight and found that he was able to finally stand unassisted, as he looked his  _ former _ master straight in the eye.

Madarame broke out into another fit of laughter, as he held his stomach, “Bring  _ me  _ to justice? Foolish boy! As I mentioned before my guards are on the way right now and should be here any moment, and you really think you can bring me to justice? You don’t even know the first thing about fighting!”. Before Madarame could continue, however, Joker finally spoke up after having been quiet for so long. 

“I believe you have forgotten that he is  _ not _ alone. And, I will tell you this, I have heard enough of your hateful crimes! You have hurt Yusuke for the last time, and I will make sure that you will pay dearly for the crimes you have committed upon him and your former pupils. I swear this upon my name, Joker Arsene!”, with that Akira throughout a small item, which Yusuke quickly realized to be a smoke bomb. He felt arms lift him up off of the ground, but he did not fight it, as they were arms that he was slowly becoming familiar with. Yusuke might have thought more of how he was being princess carried had the two not been on the run. However, guards could be heard quickly approaching, so time was of the essence, and being princess carried was the last thing on his mind. 

Before Madarame could even realize what had happened, Akira had slipped through the smoke screen and broke through the window in Yusuke’s old room. Yusuke made one look back towards the old shack he once called home, before he sank into Akira’s arms due to pure exhaustion. Upon their arrival the guards had found that they were just a few moments too late to catch the two young men on the run. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for this chapter being super late! In the end I did catch a cold...that turned out to be the flu, which left me sick with a high fever for two weeks =-= So, my whole break was me sick in bed *sigh*. Anyways, I finally had the time to write a new chapter, but I have not had the time to really proofread it at all. But, I felt bad for leaving the last chapter on a cliffhanger, so I went ahead and posted it.
> 
> This chapter is one that I wanted to try my best to keep as true to the game as possible, and as such even used dialog from the game itself. However, one difference between what I will be doing from the game is that Yusuke will still struggle with the effects of the abuse he faced. Well that, and Yusuke even being a romance option. But yeah. Anyways, I would like to think at this point, however, Yusuke really did come to terms with what happened, and found his resolve. But, from my personal experience, even if you have resolve, the scars will still haunt you at times, leaving you to question everything. 
> 
> Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed it, and I hope you had a great holiday season!


	18. The Worth of a Man

    To think that this entire time Yusuke did not realize that Akira was Joker baffled him. It wasn't like his entire career revolved around capturing even the smallest of details or anything. However, in his defense things were a little...hectic to put it nicely. 

    Akira finally came to a stop just outside of what looked like an abandoned shack, if one could even call this sad pile of old and oddly shaped pieces of wood that was haphazardly thrown together a building. None the less, it would still provide some cover for them while they fled from their pursuers. Akira gently put Yusuke down as he went to open the door, and lack of warmth and comfort that he had felt is when Yusuke realized that he had been carried by Akira this entire time. Silently wishing for the warmth to come back, Yusuke moved a little closer to Akira, watching as stealth hands undid an unusually intricate lock for such a place as this. But, Yusuke learned that appearances could be VERY deceiving after witnessing the condition and various locks around Madarame’s shack. And, upon entering the little shack Yusuke’s suspicions proved true. While inside did seem rather run down, there was a small cellar door hidden underneath an old burlap rug. Inside the cellar was a large finely furnished room. Various contraptions could be found throughout the room, and a small, but comfortable looking bed could be found behind some curtains in the corner. Even with all of the obvious traps, and Yusuke was certain that there were some not as obvious ones, the place gave off a sense of comfort and safety. Something Yusuke was really beginning to think was all just Akira’s presence influencing his surroundings. 

“Is it really alright for us to be? The owner of the shack won’t mind us picking their lock?”, Yusuke could not help but think back to their entrance. 

“Of course”, Akira gave a small, but cheerful chuckle, as he went to pull some items out of his pocket...items Yusuke recognized from Madarame’s place.  _ When did he even have the chance to grab all of that? _ , Yusuke could not help but wonder. “This is just one of many of my hideouts around the city. Though...this is one of the more elaborate ones”, Akira emphasized his point by pointing around to some of the various traps and items he had in the room. “As for the door, well, anyone can use a key. Not everyone can pick a lock. Plus, these locks have a small trick to them that one of my confidents and I put together. It will take a very skilled locksmith to break through these locks, thus making this place safe from would be stragglers wanting to campout in here. Obviously it would not take much for someone to break the outside door...but there are some things set up for special occasions such as those”, Akira gives a small smirk hinting at the pride of his current set up. “Anyways, since you know my identity already, I figured this would be the safest place to be right now. Besides, we are officially partners in crime now, so we’re in it together for better or for worse. So, please, make yourself comfortable What’s mine is yours”, Akira gives a small comforting smile, knowing that Yusuke is still coming to terms with the fact that he is now officially on the run from Madarame. 

“You are very trusting to just let someone enter waltz right into one of you secret hideouts”, Yusuke states, as he begins to question Akira’s motives.  _ Did Akira only help me to get information on Madarame? It would explain why he was so enthusiastic to help me... _ , Yusuke could not help but wonder to himself.

“You seem to be mistaken. It is not  _ someone _ I am trusting. It is  _ you _ that I am trusting, Yusuke. It is true that I may have had some…. ulterior motives in helping you with your project. But, that was not the only reason why I helped you”, Akira states almost as if he could read Yusuke’s mind. Which, leaves the blue haired young man at a complete loss for words. He was almost certain that his jaw was dropped in surprise, but his brain could not quite process that, as it was still too busy trying to fully comprehend what Akira just said.

“Then, why…?”, Yusuke tried to ask Akira what he meant by that statement, but in the end the shock just left him without proper words to use. Thankfully, Akira seemed to understand what he was trying to say, which, only helped enforce the idea that Akira had the ability to read minds. 

    “Because, I saw myself in you”, Akira said making direct contact with the other young man’s eyes. I too have been in a situation where society turned a blind eye to the injustice I faced. It is the whole reason why I became Joker Arsene. It may sound like a foolish dream of a young boy, but I want to help other people who cannot help themselves. Even if it means breaking the so called ‘law’ of this society”, Akira broke eye contact as he said the last bit, a slight blush beginning to form across his face as he rubbed the back of his neck. His face took on a much darker shade of red, however, once he looked back up. “That, and there just seemed to be something special about you. By now I have helped many people who have found themselves cheated by the system. However, I have never once brought them back to any of my secret hideouts, let alone tell them my true identity. And, while you figured out my identity by yourself, there was always a part of me that wanted you to know”.

     If Yusuke wasn’t shocked before, he definitely was now. As far as he could remember, no one else had ever genuinely cared so much about his well being before. Let alone trust him so much with a secret that could endanger the other party’s life. “I am sorry, but I do not understand your blind trust. I could betray it you know. What if I sold you out for money? You could be locked up in a cell by tomorrow morning”.  _ Yusuke, what are you saying? Of all the things you could respond with, and you say this!? If Akira did not find you odd, and/or have any doubts about you before, he definitely does now! _ , Yusuke begins to instantly regret what he just said, and entered into a state of panic instead of his previous mode of shock. However, all Akira does is give him a gentle smile, without even seeming to be the least bit offended. 

    “Because, you wouldn't do that. And, before you say, ‘how can you know?’, well I just have this feeling. And, I believe that I am a pretty good judge of character. It is as simple as that”. Yusuke still did not seem completely convinced by Akira’s reasoning. However, a warm feeling started to fill his stomach, as he could feel moisture build up in his eyes. “Thank you…”, Yusuke muttered, as the tears began to fall. “Thank you saving me. And, thank you for trusting me”.

    Akira walked up to Yusuke and wrapped his arms around him in a comforting embrace, brining one hand up to stroke Yusuke’s head as the other man cried into his shoulder. “Of course. I would do it all over again in a heartbeat if it meant helping you”. 

    Yusuke wanted to ask why Akira would do something for someone who had nothing of value to offer, but the tears had become too heavy to even form proper words. However, somehow….

    “You are  _ worth _ all of the struggle that it will bring to set you free”.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the 100+ kudos, everyone! It truly means a whole lot to me! I also apologize for the beyond slow update. I had some major life events take place that will make it hard to keep up a steady posting schedule for a bit. I will still try my best to post when I can though! Thank you again for the kudos! And, for all of the wonderful comments thus far! They really help keep me going!


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